You\u2019re guaranteed, at least twice every practice, to hear Mitch Marner make his presence felt.<\/p>\n
It could be the occasional jab at one of his fellow skaters. It could be a noticeable yell each time he scores on one of the goalies, making sure they hear him loud and clear.<\/p>\n
Marner made it clear from his first ever with the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> back in September. He was going to chirp. He was going to be loud on occasion.<\/p>\n Outside of that, it was a quiet season for Marner. He\u2019s mostly reserved, maybe still keeping his guard up in the locker room after years of Toronto-based microphones and cameras in his face.<\/p>\n Marner finished with 80 points \u2014 a team-high 22 of them coming after the Olympic break \u2014 while spending the second half of the year playing center for the first extended time of his NHL career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always a challenge to get to the playoffs,\u201d Marner said. \u201cYou make it in, and then the real work begins. I\u2019m just excited to get in there with this group.\u201d<\/p>\n The moment Marner put pen to paper on that eight-year, $96 million contract<\/a> to make him the richest free agent acquisition in franchise history, September to April wasn\u2019t going to matter.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been a 100-point scorer. He\u2019s hit the 80-point mark six times as of this season. Only Connor McDavid has put up more points than Marner\u2019s 821 in his 738-game career among the 2015 draft class. He\u2019s been among the league\u2019s elite in the regular season.<\/p>\n Changing the narrative<\/p>\n But the playoffs are here<\/a>. And with that comes the label that followed Marner\u2019s near-entire tenure in Toronto, and one he looks to shake in his first postseason with the Knights.<\/p>\n In 70 career playoff games, Marner has 13 goals and 63 points. Four times in the playoffs has he been a point-per-game player. He\u2019s never advanced beyond the second round, and he made it that far twice with the Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the claim that Marner hasn\u2019t performed when a series is at its apex. In Games 5-7 of a playoff series from 2019-25, Marner has no goals and seven assists.<\/p>\n Marner got the brunt of the blame for Toronto\u2019s shortcomings, largely because he was the hometown kid. The story wrote itself, that the Ontario native would find a way to lead the Maple Leafs to glory.<\/p>\n Auston Matthews didn\u2019t get that much heat. Nor did William Nylander or Morgan Rielly, the other members of Toronto\u2019s infamous Core Four.<\/p>\n The criticism from media and fans followed Marner until his last playoff game with Toronto \u2014 a 6-1 defeat on home ice in Game 7 to the eventual champion Florida Panthers. He had two shots in 18:43 and was a minus-2.<\/p>\n \u201cYou just can\u2019t care about it,\u201d Marner said. \u201cEveryone has their own opinions. They want to say what they want to say. Nothing you can do about it. You just got to focus on yourself and what you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n Marner, as simple as he could answer it, said the easiest way to handle the criticism was to avoid social media, reading the news, or reading anything that anyone had to say.<\/p>\n It\u2019s his way of trying to stay locked in. That\u2019s how he\u2019s approaching this postseason.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just trying not to read into it,\u201d Marner said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to focus on what I can do on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n A season of changes<\/p>\n There\u2019s no sense in trying to convince one side of the aisle over the other on whether Marner deserved the blame for Toronto\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n One thing is certain: He can\u2019t be blamed this year for the Maple Leafs missing the playoffs, while the Knights are one of 16 teams left playing for a Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n This season was anything but conventional for Marner. Injuries pushed him to full-time center for a large portion of the season, outside of his usual right wing spot.<\/p>\n Outside of the faceoff aspect, Marner\u2019s defensive prowess allowed him to be a serviceable fit down the middle.<\/p>\n His scoring took a considerable dip from the 102 he had last year, finishing fewer than a point per game for the first time since 2017-18.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s different when you look at only the points, which some people do,\u201d general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. \u201cIt\u2019s not all points. There\u2019s just so many things in the game over the course of the night that are so special in terms of what he does with his hockey sense and skill.\u201d<\/p>\n Does he feel Marner is motivated to silence his playoff critics?<\/p>\n \u201cI think some of that stuff matters more to the critics than it does to people,\u201d McCrimmon said. \u201cYou worry about winning. You just really put your attention to that.<\/p>\n \u201cIs Mitch Marner excited about the Stanley Cup Playoffs? I\u2019m sure he\u2019s excited as hell. All of our players are. It\u2019s that time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n Playoff performer?<\/p>\n Postseason narrative be damned, that\u2019s why Marner was brought to Las Vegas.<\/p>\n McCrimmon felt they needed a dynamic winger to complement center Jack Eichel and captain Mark Stone. Coach John Tortorella put those three together in the first practice prior to Sunday\u2019s Game 1 against the Utah Mammoth.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how long those three play together, but Tortorella isn\u2019t afraid to line up his three best forwards to set the tone.<\/p>\n \u201cMitch is a great hockey player,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cHe\u2019s a complete player. Very important guy. One of the top players in our league. He does a lot of things for us.\u201d<\/p>\n It took Marner some time to get acclimated to his new home. There\u2019s still a part of him that may feel he\u2019s still adjusting to life outside of Toronto. The quiet has helped.<\/p>\n How loud the volume gets may only be determined with how he does in the postseason.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be easy,\u201d Marner said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be lots of ups and downs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just got to make sure that we\u2019re there for one another and have each other\u2019s backs.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @DannyWebster21<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019re guaranteed, at least twice every practice, to hear Mitch Marner make his presence felt. 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