Ed Graney: In Las Vegas, Mitch Marner can just blend in -- even as a superstar

Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Jul 3, 2025

Published in Hockey

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LAS VEGAS — The spotlight was blinding for Mitch Marner. Like nothing you can imagine.

That’s what it meant for a hometown kid to be playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs over nine seasons.

For being a superstar in such a hockey-centric world.

The intense pressure that comes from wearing a Maple Leafs jersey. The grand expectations of, well, everyone.

Maybe that will subside some now. Maybe the glare won’t be as bright. The noise not as deafening.

The Golden Knights traded for Marner on Monday because of course they did.

Because this is who they are.

Because this is what they do.

If a gigantic marlin swept through the ocean, the Knights would be the first ones towing several lures behind a moving boat in hopes of attracting the big fish.

They play to win and don’t apologize for it.

That’s never a bad thing.

Live or die

It’s not that there aren’t expectations here. Any team that has made the playoffs in all but one season since entering the NHL as an expansion side in 2017 and has already lifted a Stanley Cup has them tenfold.

It’s just not the same as a city such as Toronto, not as critical, not as the live-or-die opinions of others. It can be brutal, even for the best of players. Mostly for the best of players.

“We have a lot of pressure here,” Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “We internally have pressure on our team. We want to win. Our guys put pressure on themselves as much as any player on another team.

“Toronto is a huge market. There’s pressure there. (Marner) is a local boy who was at the top of every category for the Maple Leafs.”

Marner’s journey to Las Vegas is eerily similar to that of star center Jack Eichel, another top-five draft pick who found his time in Buffalo strewn with expectations and the feeling whatever he did was never good enough.

His charge was to lead the Sabres to a playoff berth.

Marner’s was to help direct the Maple Leafs to a Cup title.

Neither occurred.

It’s not as if Marner wasn’t surrounded by talent in Toronto. He was. But perhaps teaming with Eichel and Mark Stone and William Karlsson and the like here, along with a fresh start in a new town, will help him and his family better quickly acclimate to these surroundings.

Where even a world-class player such as himself can blend into things far more than his previous home.

Where that blinding spotlight isn’t always aimed in his direction.

“I think we put the most pressure on ourselves as hockey players,” Marner said. “We want to win every night. You want to win every battle. You want to win at anything.

“I’ve been on some very good teams with very good players. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the Cup, and that sucks, honestly. But we have a great opportunity here with an unbelievable team. This is where I wanted to be.”

You can’t overstate the talent he has and the type of player just acquired by the Knights. You’re talking about a guy who’s coming off a career-best 102 points and has gone over 90 four times.

It’s just another highly regarded name the Knights have landed over time. Max Pacioretty. Stone. Alex Pietrangelo. Eichel. Tomas Hertl. Noah Hanifin.

This is who they are.

This is what they do.

They chase the biggest fish, and more often than not catch it.

Blending in

“You want to be at a place that wants to win,” Marner said. “That’s the whole goal, why we do this. You want to hoist the Stanley Cup, and this team has shown it can do that. I’m lucky enough now to bring another piece here to bring it back.

“I’m so grateful to have played there for nine years. They took a risky pick on a small kid from Toronto who will be forever grateful to wear a Maple Leafs jersey. I’m also so grateful to be here and so happy to be part of this team.”

The noise isn’t as loud as in Toronto. The spotlight not as bright. But there are expectations.

And yet maybe, just maybe, Mitch Marner can merely blend in a little while chasing them. Yeah. Even as a superstar.