William Karlsson is making life easier for Mitch Marner
With the series level after four games heading into Thursday night’s Game 5, the Vegas Golden Knights know they don’t have to panic when one line isn’t clicking in the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Through the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs and, in particular, in the final, former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has been one of the standout players — a far cry from how he played in many of the most important games in Toronto.
In part, it has to do with the level and skill set of William Karlsson, who has been delivering alongside Marner in some of the biggest games.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Jeff Marek from The Sheet joined co-hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to break down the partnership between Karlsson and Marner.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Part of what’s made this Vegas Golden Knights team so difficult to beat is that they have this top nine; it’s fine if Thomas Hertl is in a mini slump, because the other two lines are rolling. Even in this cup final. The Jack Eichel line is not at its best; that’s okay. William Karlsson, Brett Howden, and Mitch Marner have been as good as any top line in recent Cup Finals.
Jeff Marek: That is sort of one of the reasons why Mitch Marner is playing so differently, or why it seems like Marner is playing a lot differently in Vegas than he was in Toronto. I’ll point to William Karlsson. How many times have you heard someone say about a high-level player, ‘Oh, he makes it easy to play the game’? With William Karlsson, the game is so much easier. He does all those things that Mitch Marner was asked to do in Toronto for so many years.
I’ve been mentioning this for a while now. Mitch always had to go play fetch and get the puck for Auston Matthews. Now, Mitch has guys around that are helping him do that, so it should come as no surprise. You’re seeing the best of all possible Mitch Marner because he’s not being asked to do all of it.
You can catch the full breakdown and Thursday’s entire episode here…