The Good, Bad & Ugly: Looking back at Mitch Marner’s most memorable highs & lows through 9-year Maple Leafs career following Vegas trade

Mitch Marner officially ended his nine-year tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1 by becoming a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The trade out of Toronto was an effort by Maple Leafs management to salvage something from Marner’s impending departure. Now that the Mitch Marner chapter is closed in Toronto, it’s worth taking a look at the highs and lows of Mitch Marner’s tenure with the Blue and White.

Highs

#3 Hometown kid playing for Toronto

The Maple Leafs have had few hometown players drafted and developed through the organization. Mitch Marner was one of the few.

Marner was the fourth-overall pick in the 2015 draft, the notorious Connor McDavid one. He joined the Leafs in 2016 and promptly put up 61 points in 77 games in his rookie season. He finished fifth in Calder Trophy voting behind teammate Auston Matthews.

#2 Longest point streak in team history

During the 2022-23 season, Marner set a new team record for the longest point streak at 23 games. He passed Darryl Sittler and Ed Olczyk, who held the previous record at 19 games.

Marner would end that season with 99 points, falling one shy of the 100-point mark.

#1 Fourth Leaf to score 100 points in a season

Mitch Marner joined a trio of Maple Leafs captains, Doug Gilmour, Darryl Sittler, and Auston Matthews, as the only players in team history to score 100 points. Marner notched 102 points in his final season in Toronto.

Marner finally broke the century mark after notching 94, 97, and 99 points in a single season.

Lows

#3 Playoff futility

During his tenure in Toronto, Marner was unable to lead his team past the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In his nine years with the Blue and White, the Leafs went 0-7 in Game 7s. The most recent defeat came at the hands of the Florida Panthers in the 2025 playoffs.

#2 Contract hold out

Heading into the 2019 offseason, Mitch Marner, then an RFA, threatened the Toronto Maple Leafs with holding out if the two sides didn’t work out a new contract.

Toronto management eventually capitulated, signing Marner to a six-year, $65.41 million contract. The deal ended the holdout threats, but left both sides reeling from the hard-fought negotiations.

#1 Sign-and-trade with Golden Knights

The lowest point in Marner’s tenure in Toronto is his sign-and-trade fiasco. Marner tiptoed through the entire 2024-25 season around his impending free agency.

Then, rumors of tampering between Marner’s camp and the Golden Knights ended speculation about Marner’s preferred destination. His preference for Vegas was one of the worst-kept secrets in the NHL. Marner got his wish in the end, ending his time in Toronto with a whimper.

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Edited by Nestor Quixtan