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Mitch Marner is Still Taking Flak for Maple Leafs Playoff Shortcomings
He may be gone, but Mitch Marner still hasn’t escaped being the target of Maple Leafs playoff jokes.
Mitch Marner being a Toronto Maple Leaf is a thing of the past, and both sides have moved on after a nine-year partnership that had so much promise.
The Markham, Ontario, native delivered and then some in the regular season, piling up 741 points (221 goals, 520 assists) in 657 games as one of the most productive players in franchise history. However, we all know that it didn’t translate into the postseason, where he and the Maple Leafs could never get over the hump and faced plenty of criticism for it.
Now that Marner is in Vegas, you would think he’s escaped all of that noise, though, with how everything ended, it might never fully go away. That was the case on Monday as Victor Hedman made a comment about Tampa Bay getting set to face Toronto for the first time sans Marner, which was followed up by a joke from ESPN insider Greg Wyshynski.
“We haven’t seen them without Mitch so that will be interesting to see,”
“What a weird thing to say. They’ve absolutely played the Leafs in the playoffs,”
Marner was, of course, dealt to Vegas in a sign-and-trade this summer for Nicolas Roy, before inking an eight-year, $96 million contract.
The 28-year-old has had a bit of an up-and-down start to his Golden Knights tenure, though he’s still managed to tally 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in 28 games as he adjusts to his new team.
Mitch Marner Was Actually Productive Against Tampa Bay
While everyone loves to pile on when it comes to Marner’s playoff struggles, the Lightning were actually the team he’s had the most success facing come the postseason.
Marner racked up 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) and was a +12 rating in 13 playoff games against the Bolts, as opposed to his 44 points (nine goals, 35 assists) in 57 games against any other opponent.
That being said, we know Maple Leafs fans have no interest in celebrating that or anything related to the last decade of disappointment when it mattered most.
With Marner in mind, we’re getting that much closer to January 15th, the date we’ll see Toronto and Vegas go head-to-head for the first time since the three-time All-Star swapped squads.
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