32 Teams, 32 Players: Mitch Marner

We continue to get ready for the start of the 2024-25 NHL season by taking a look at one important player for each team. Today it is Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner.

We are inching our way toward the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, and as we get closer we are going to highlight one player on each team that stands out for the season. What kind of player? Well, a player that could make a difference, be an X-factor, be on the verge of a breakout, or just simply be a player under the microscope and needing to have a big season.

Basically — which player do I think is the most fascinating on each team.

We are not going in any particularly order and continue today with Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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There might not be a player under a more intense microscope this season than Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner.

The only players that might even come close him in that regard are probably some of his teammates.

Such is life as a hockey player in Toronto.

But Marner seems to stand out above the rest just because he became something of a focal point for the Maple Leafs’ continued postseason shortcomings. He struggled in their first-round loss to Boston, the team failed to advance in the playoffs (again), and as more calls came for the Maple Leafs to break up a core that has won nothing of consequence in eight years he was the player most often talked about as being the player to dump.

In the end, the Maple Leafs did no such thing and are running back the same core for another attempt at playoff glory.

Oh, and if all of that is not enough, he is also entering the final year of his contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agency after the 2024-25 season.

Toronto probably missed its best chance to move him and has, for better or worse, decided this is the best path for success.

Whether or not it works remains to be seen. But one thing we do know is that the pressure is absolutely on Marner in more ways than one this season.

Let’s talk about it.