Grading the Mitch Marner trade: Maple Leafs save face as Golden Knights add superstar
The Toronto Maple Leafs must have known they weren’t paying Mitch Marner from the moment he tried an ambitious spin-o-rama stretch pass that killed their chances in Game 5 at home against the Florida Panthers.
There was blame to go around in Toronto’s latest greatest collapse, but the moment confirmed in their minds what every Leafs fan with a smartphone had been saying for years, that he’s not a “winning player.”
The Vegas Golden Knights, wounded by their own second-round dismantling by the Edmonton Oilers, were always going to be a fit. Kelly McCrimmon is the most proactive GM in the league, and the low pressure (and low taxes) of the third-newest hockey town in the league made the Knights a fit for the player as well.
In a bit of a shocker, given their ugly breakup, the Leafs and Marner were able to work out a deal that meant Toronto wouldn’t lose the homegrown superstar for nothing. Marner “re-signed,” Vegas jumped the free agency line for his services, and the Leafs came out with a nifty new roster player.
Report: Leafs sign Mitch Marner to eight-year contract, trade to Golden Knights https://t.co/3Q4KCSLrNL
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) June 30, 2025At the time of publication, the trade hasn’t gone through officially. But by all accounts, it’s happening.
How did the unconventional deal come together? Will Vegas regret spending every last dollar of its cap space on someone who has struggled in big moments? And just who is the newest Maple Leaf, Nic Roy?
These questions and Marner’s track record of regular-season excellence necessitate the final Daily Faceoff trade grades of the 2024-25 season.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Receive:
Nicolas Roy, C; $3 million cap hit through 2027
Marner alluded to his impending departure in the aftermath of Toronto’s second-round exit, and the Maple Leafs’ attention turned to re-upping Tavares and Matthew Knies while spending Marner’s salary on complimentary pieces. One such piece, Nic Roy, arrived before the onset of free agency.
Marner, Maple Leafs’ GM Brad Treliving, and Vegas had spent the days leading up to free agency hammering out a deal that would buy the Knights an extra year on Marner’s contract and keep Toronto from losing him for nothing. When the Leafs perceived the Golden Knights as getting cold feet, a conspicuously well-timed media leak suggested they’d come after Vegas for using faux trade talks to get the jump on signing Marner as a UFA.
McCrimmon saw the writing on the wall and fulfilled his promise to send a roster player back to the Maple Leafs, and the deal was finalized on Monday afternoon. Roy is more than a method for Toronto to save face amid an ugly divorce, though.
He fits right in with Treliving’s vision of the Leafs as a thumping, defensive juggernaut in the mold of, you guessed it, the Golden Knights. Since cracking Vegas’s lineup full-time in 2021-22, the big Quebecois centerman has scored just under half a point per game while clearing tough minutes and chipping in on the PK.
Roy’s ability to play borderline second-line ice time (15:48 ATOI) will help Toronto limit defensive zone starts for the aging Tavares. He’s been a center for his entire career, and stability down the middle could help salvage Max Domi and Scott Laughton, pricy (and failed) attempts to fill Toronto’s void at 3C, as wingers.
Roy’s hard-nosed game has led to double-digit injury absences in three seasons running, but two years of team control of a 28-year-old with winning pedigree (79 playoff games) make this a nifty get by Treliving.
Grade: A+
Vegas Golden Knights
Receive:
Mitch Marner, RW; $12 million cap hit through 2033 (extended as stipulation of trade)
Marner is done being the hockey media’s biggest whipping boy, a title that was as much a product of his environment and exorbitant contract (seventh-highest cap hit from 2019-23) as his playoff woes (50 P in 73 GP). Whether or not he deserved to be a pariah, Marner is one of the NHL’s elite players.
Marner, eighth in regular-season scoring since 2021-22 and fourth in assists, is coming off career-best production (102 P) despite an off-color campaign by perennial linemate Auston Matthews (33 G, down from a 46-G average from 2017-24). He is one of the few true play drivers in hockey at his position, thanks to elite two-way results that have earned Selke votes in all but his first two seasons. Most importantly, he fits in Vegas.
Mark Stone was once the only winger in hockey who defended better than Marner, but age and injury have whittled down his own-zone effectiveness. With Marner on board, the Vegas captain can continue to generate offense alongside star center Jack Eichel without eating so many matchup minutes.
Tomas Hertl doesn’t score at the generational pace of Matthews, but Marner could do worse at finding a stylistically similar linemate to his old friend. Hertl is a 220-lb bear of a man who cannot be moved from the low slot. He’s coming off a 32-goal season despite a rotating cast of wingers. Marner is as creative below the goal line as any player in the league, and Hertl is set up well to reap the rewards.
WHO WANTS IT MORE THAN TOMAS HERTL????? pic.twitter.com/BH0wkCxQae
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 21, 2025The money is still a gamble. While Marner’s $12-million AAV is almost certainly below his market value, Vegas can only afford it due to the newly announced semi-retirement of blue-line leader Alex Pietrangelo. Even with ‘Petro’ on board, there were cracks in the Golden Knights’ defensive armor last season.
Marner’s noted postseason struggles amplify the risk for McCrimmon. Vegas needs Marner to elevate in the spring, where he’s so often disappeared, to put a jolt into the decaying core of its 2023 Cup team.
With physical beasts like Hertl, Stone, and Ivan Barabashov littered throughout their top six, the Knights are still the best bet to fix what ails Marner in crunch time.
Grade: A-
Get ready for wall-to-wall coverage of one of the biggest days in the calendar — the Daily Faceoff Live Free Agency Special goes live on July 1st at 11 AM EST. Host Tyler Yaremchuk is joined by Carter Hutton, Matthew Barnaby, Jeff Marek, Hart Levine, Colby Cohen, Jonny Lazarus, and insiders from across the Network for three hours of in-depth analysis, live reactions, and real-time updates on every major signing and trade. From blockbuster deals to under-the-radar moves, we’re breaking it all down as it happens. Don’t miss a minute — catch the full special live on DailyFaceoff.com and Daily Faceoff’s YouTube.