As the NHL world continues to diagnose the Marner-less Toronto Maple Leafs, pundits have discussed what went wrong in Toronto that led the Leafs to part ways with one of their premier homegrown offensive talents. Others have considered if this breakup was avoidable had the situation played out another way.
Insider Elliotte Friedman has dropped a nugget in regards to what alternate history could look like had the 2025 playoffs worked out differently from this regard.
On 32 Thoughts, Friedman stated that he believes Marner would have stayed in Toronto had the Leafs won their 2nd round playoff series against the Florida Panthers.
What drove the Leafs to part with Mitch?
The Leafs playoff run ending in the most anticlimactic fashion possible with a blowout loss against Florida in Game 7 was viewed as the last straw of Marner’s time in Toronto. Had the Leafs found a way to win that game, there is a good chance they could have gone on to make a run and advance to the Stanley Cup final considering they are the team that gave the Panthers the biggest challenge in the playoffs being the only team to take them 7 games.
One wonders how different the Leafs and Marner’s outlook would appear right now had they avoided yet another playoff disaster this past year. In the meantime, both sides will look to move on and achieve greater postseason success in the future.
Marner will take his 102 points with him as he looks to fuel the Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup aspirations. We’ll see if the Leafs can make it further in the playoffs without Mitch, perhaps a Stanley Cup final matchup with Vegas is in the future cards? Time will tell, we’ll see which side comes out further on top.
