Should Leaf fans view Mitch Marner as a hero or villain? A debate with myself

It’s official. The Mitch Marner era is over in Toronto, with the Leafs executing a sign-and-trade deal that sends him to Vegas Golden Knights hours before Monday's midnight deadline. (add link)

Leaf fans, how are we feeling about all of this? More specifically, how are we feeling about Marner himself?

Let’s put the question even more simply: When he makes his first trip back to Toronto, are you booing him? Does he get an ovation? Something in between? No reaction at all?

I think I can guess where the majority might be leaning today. I’m also pretty sure that it’s far from unanimous. So today, let’s debate the subject with arguments, from two different types of fans, both of whom are me.

In one corner, my sports fan brain – logical, rational, and not especially susceptible to easy narratives. In the other, my sports fan heart, which is not quite as rational, but is also the main reason I’m here.

It’s worth pointing out that the last time we broke out this gimmick for a Leafs debate, it was 2022 and we were still doing the “run it back” dance with this team. Back then, my head said to stay the course, while my heart said to blow it all up. If you look back at that post today, well, I think it’s fair to say that the heart won, or at least it should have. We’ll see if that holds true today.

Mitch Marner is an ex-Leaf. Are we mad at him? Should we be? I’m not sure, so let’s drop the gloves and square off.

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The NHL tried something new with how this year's draft worked. It got awkward

For decades, the NHL had a unique approach to their annual draft. While other leagues used a decentralized approach, with teams drafting from various war rooms around North America, the NHL brought everyone to one host city for a days-long celebration of the future. Aside from 2020 and 2021, when COVID forced a fully virtual draft, it’s been an everyone-invited event for decades. It was a rare case of hockey doing something cool and unique.

And so of course, this year, they said: Nah, let’s just do it the way everyone else does.

Back in 2023, we reported on the reasons behind the potential change, but we’ll summarize here: It was expensive for teams to fly their entire front office and scouting staffs in to the draft,  the travel was a pain, the draft floor was too crowded for making trades, and there wasn’t enough time to get everyone back home before free agency opened.

You could argue that all of those complains are reasonable. You could also point out that absolutely none of them have anything to do with the fans, or the viewers at home. The NHL is ostensibly an entertainment product, but they tend to forget that minor detail roughly (checks notes) all the time. Is saving a few bucks worth it if one of your biggest nights looks worse as a result?

Maybe not, but that’s only if it looks worse. Maybe it could be fine. Heck, maybe it would even be an improvement – it’s not like the old way got rave reviews each and every year. Then again, last year’s Sphere experience would be a tough act to follow.

I didn’t love the change when it was first announced, but I was intrigued, especially after reading Julian’s piece about how it would all work. I wanted to give it a fair shot. Here are my thoughts on the good, the bad, and everything in between from Friday’s night’s opening round.

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Which team can build the most impressive starting lineup of cap era draft busts?

It’s draft weekend in the NHL. A time for renewal, and replenishment, and metaphors about fresh sheets of ice. Optimism, you might even say. This may be the one day of the year where every team and their fan base can legitimately feel like their situation is about to get better.

We can’t have that. Let’s make everyone sad instead.

Today’s post is simple: We’re going to go around the league and try to assemble the best six-man lineup of draft busts from the cap era. That’s three forwards, two defensemen and a goalie that were good enough to be worth a high pick, but for whatever reason just didn’t work out at the NHL level. We’re limiting this to first-round picks for the skaters, and to the first three rounds for goalies (who rarely get picked in the first).

Sound fun? No? Good, that’s the whole point. Let’s remember some whiffs.

As usual, we’ll do about 10 teams and then turn it over to you in the comments to suggest other contenders. Let’s start with the Bruins, if only because all their fans know what’s coming and we might as well rip the bandaid off right away.

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Mitch Marner UFA power rankings: Who needs him, what's funniest and where does he land?

We’re less than a week away from free agency, and the big name is Mitch Marner. You may have heard about it. It’s been kind of a thing.

And as you’d expect, several teams have emerged as potential destinations, while others are likely happy to lurk in the background. As of today, there’s no clear favorite. That feels like a good reason to break out the trusty Power Rankings gimmick, and see what kind of different lenses we can look at the situation through.

And yes, we’ll end with a prediction. You should probably ignore that part, because I’m bad at this. But first, let’s start with the obvious category…

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Longevity vs. peak: The Hockey Hall of Fame debate, and 5 players who define it

What kind of Hall-of-Fame fan are you?

With the HHOF committee meeting tomorrow to pick the class of 2025, and a stellar crop of first-time candidates added to some impressive holdovers, it’s time to have the Hall debate. After all, half the point of a sport having a highest honor is for fans to argue over who deserves it and who falls just short.

When we talk about which kind of Hall a fan wants, we usually default to the old “small hall” debate, which basically amounts to just how high you want to set the bar, and inevitably ends with a fight over Bernie Federko. But there’s another way to look at it, and it’s the one we’ll focus on today: Which matters more, a player’s short-term peak or their long-term consistency?

Obviously, the ideal answer is “both”. But the players who are truly great for an extended period aren’t the ones we typically argue over. Joe Thornton and Zdeno Chara both had MVP/Norris peaks to go with long careers of sustained excellence. Both are also getting in on the first ballot, so there's no debate to be had. It's the fringe cases that usually force us to pick one side or the other. So, who you got?

Let’s look at this as a sliding scale, with five stops along the way.

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What your favorite UFA is up to right now, some Canadian pride, and more: Grab Bag

We’re just days away from free agency. Do you know what your favorite pending UFA is up to right now? My spies have been busy finding out, and reported back with this list of what a dozen of the biggest names on our UFA board are focused on right now.

Mitch Marner – Preparing his list of key questions to ask potential teams, including “You’re not the Leafs, right?”, and “No but seriously, you’re not the Leafs?” and “Actually no I don’t have any other questions for you, but since we’re on the subject, are you positive you’re not the Leafs?”

Nikolaj Ehlers – Exactly what every Canadian fan thinks pending UFAs are doing these days: Repeatedly googling state tax rates a dozen times a day.

Jake Allen – Building a new addition onto his house every time an Oilers fan gets around to looking up what this summer’s free agent goalie crop looks like.

Jonathan Toews – Saying “Oh absolutely, it’s always been my dream to play for my hometown team in Winnipeg” to a delighted Kevin Cheveldayoff before covering the phone and giggling into his Colorado Avalanche jersey.

Brad Marchand – Signing autographs, shaking hands, building nests, chewing through wires, damaging crops, spreading disease, miscellaneous scurrying.

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A history of the award for biggest playoff loser, which does not exist but should

We like to make up awards around here. Over the years, we’ve introduced the Carson (for best sophomore season), the Bourque (for best final season), and of course the Conned Smythe (for making the trade that decided a championship). Is it kind of dumb? Sure, but no dumber than the Mark Messier Leadership Award, so off we go.

This time around, I want to introduce a team award, which will be presented to the NHL team that has the worst and most painful playoff performance in any given year.

In theory, that would mean a first-round exit, preferably in as few games as possible. But it’s not just about whoever had the shortest run, because not all sweeps are created equal. We’re looking past the cold hard numbers here, and instead trying to find the true pain. And often, that means getting a team’s hopes up before crushing them. In theory, you could even win a round or two before crashing and burning in such spectacular fashion that you never want to speak of it again.

Expectations matter. Opponents matter. And of course, there’s plenty of room for artistic impression. We can even use the benefit of hindsight to find the especially painful special circumstances. The point is that anyone can lose, and 15 teams do every year. But which losses really leave a mark? Which ones brutalize a fan base, scarring them for generations?

This sounds fun.

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Where do the Oilers and Panthers rank among the greatest repeat Cup final matchups?

Are you enjoying the rematch between the Panthers and Oilers? I’m guessing you are, since it’s already getting some buzz as the one of the greatest finals of the cap era. This comes one year after our own Chris Jonhnston ranked the 2024 edition as the best final of the era before it was even over.

So yeah, it’s far to say these two teams work well together. Sometimes, with the right matchup, that just happens. Where it’s Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, or Bret Hart and Steve Austin, some pairings just make magic together. And that can be true even if it takes a little while to get them back together.

As luck would have it, the Oilers and Panthers are the tenth time that the same two teams have met in multiple Stanley Cup finals since the start of the expansion era in 1968. So today, let’s put together a ranking of all ten of those pairings, from worst to best, based on how entertaining the resulting series were.

The Panthers and Oilers are at a disadvantage here, since their second series hasn’t ended yet. But I’m guessing they’re still going to rank pretty high, and might even end up taking the crown. Let’s find out…

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How well do you know your Cup-winning goalies? Take the Who Didn’t He Play For quiz

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s all about the goalies. The team that gets the better goaltending always wins, except for the times that they don’t, but it’s always better to have a big-name star, unless it’s one of those years where the winning team can just throw anyone back there. Glad we cleared all that up. Let’s do a quiz.

I’ll give you 16 goaltenders who have their name on the Stanley Cup, plus four teams for each. You tell me which one of those teams that goalie never played a game for. Nice and simple. I’m sure you’ll do great.

Complete the quiz below, then scroll back up to see how you did using this handy scoring chart:

16 correct: You are Ken Dryden, and can basically win the Cup whenever you feel like it.

12-15 correct: You are Patrick Roy, owner of multiple Conn Smythe trophies.

8-11 correct: You’re Jonathan Quick, saving your best for when it’s needed.

4-7 correct: You’re Henrik Lundqvist; you had your moments, but couldn’t get a ring.

1-3 correct: You’re Playoff Freddie Andersen. Hey, it could always be worse.

0 correct: You’re Connor Hellebuyck on the road.

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Who says no to these trades (involving things that cannot actually be traded)?

In the NHL, you can’t trade coaches. There was a time when you could, and it happened back in 1987, when Rangers’ GM Phil Esposito sent a first-round pick to Quebec for head coach Michel Bergeron in a surprise swap. It was a creative move. It also didn’t work, with Bergeron lasting less than two seasons, and the league quickly moved to make sure it wouldn’t be tried again. These days, coaches are one of many assets a team is not allowed to trade.

Or are they? After all, we occasionally see coaching quasi-trades, like when John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault essentially swapped teams after being fired in 2013. More recently, the Rangers and Penguins didn’t actually pull off a Mike Sullivan and David Quinn for Dan Muse trade, but it kind of worked out that way.

Let's use that as inspiration. We've got some time to kill between Stanley Cup final games, so I put out a call to readers: Send me your "who says no?" trade proposals involving things that cannot actually be traded. And you sure did. Can we pull off a blockbuster, or will just be too complicated to make a trade in the cap era NHL? Let's find out.

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The road to the Stanley Cup Final: Ranking the 14 playoff series that got us here

We’re two games into a Stanley Cup final that already seems like it could be headed for classic status. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a moment to look back at the 14 other matchups that brought us here, with our annual ranking of every series that led to the final.

All in all, it’s been a mixed bag of a postseason. We avoided having even one sweep, which is impressive. We also had half the series end in five games, which generally isn’t. It’s a top-heavy list, but having gone through it all, I’m not sure we can really complain about what the hockey gods served up. Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up...

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I want your trade proposals (involving things that cannot be traded)

We all love a good “Who says no?” trade column. Readers send in their proposals, and writers figure out which ones makes sense, and which teams would or wouldn’t be interested. It’s a great gimmick, which is why you see it show up so often.

Let’s try it with a twist. I’m asking you for your trade proposals involving anything that teams aren’t actually allowed to trade. That is, I don’t want to hear about players or picks or signing rights or retained salary. Instead, I want you to hit me with everything else – coaches, front offices, mascots, media, anthem singers, you name it.

Get creative, come up with a trade you think would work for both teams, and send it in. Then I’ll take those ideas and… actually, I don’t know. This probably won’t work. But it would be fun if it did, so no harm in trying.

One tip: Keep your trade offers small and specific. One team's coach for another's GM would work way better than something involving vague concepts like "Team A trades their fans to Team B for low taxes".

Update: OK seriously stop sending proposals that involve tax rates.

Email your trade proposals to dgbmailbag@gmail.com and let’s see where this goes.

The Mitch Marner UFA villainy rankings: Which destination would hurt Leaf fans most?

Mitch Marner’s run as a Maple Leafs is all but over, with all signs pointing to his departure as an unrestricted free agent on July 1. That reality raises all sorts of questions, including how it came to this, whether a breakup is really the right move for either side, and whether this all could have been avoided. But the more pressing question right now is: Where does he wind up?

James Mirtle took a crack at that question a few days ago, ranking all 32 potential landing spots from most likely to maybe to probably not. If we’re being honest, James was probably being kind on the “probably” for that last group, none of whom seem like realistic fits. Still, almost half the league appears to at least theoretically be in the running, which you’d expect for a player with as much talent and upside as Marner can offer.

Great. But all that analysis is leaving out the most important part of any great drama: The villain.

If Marner truly going to betray a Toronto fan base that never had a bad word to say about him – don’t search any social media, just go with it – then he might as well embrace the heel turn. Really kick Leaf Nation through the barbershop window, you know? There may even be a very small minority of you out there in other fan bases who’ll be rooting for it to happen.

OK, so let’s figure this out. Today, we’re going to rank Marner’s potential destinations based solely on how much it would twist the knife on his former team and its fans. I’ve used Mirtle’s list as a starting point, and taken all the teams that he ranked as having at least a quasi-realistic shot at landing the best UFA the league has seen in years. That leaves us with 16 candidates; let’s count them down from least to most painful for Leaf fans.

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Oilers or Panthers (again)? An updated rooting guide for 30 other NHL fan bases

I can’t speak for every hockey fan, but one of the reasons I enjoy this time of year in part is that there’s a pleasant sense of familiarity. The postseason story is winding its way to a conclusion, hitting most of the usual beats along the way. We’ve hit on all of the mandatory controversies. My favorite team is, of course, already out. And most importantly: We can crack open the file folder labelled “recurring bits”, which makes life easier for everyone. Well, for me. I guess I’m mainly concerned about me here.

But here’s the thing about that comfortable familiarity – you can have too much of a good thing. This year’s playoffs are getting a little too familiar, and it’s messing things up.

There’s already been one causality. For the first time in a while, I didn’t bother with the “lessons from the final four” post this year, because three of the four finalists were the same as last year. And now it’s happened again, with the hockey gods serving up a rare Stanley Cup final rematch.

Look, we all love a good sequel, and there are plenty of juicy narratives to sink into over the next few weeks. But a rematch threatens to ruin one of my favorite gimmicks, the annual Cup final rooting guide for the 30 other fan bases. We already did Florida vs. Edmonton, this time last year.

What’s a grizzled sportswriter to do? The answer is obvious: Come up with some new ideas for once you hack Double down. So today, we’re doing Oilers vs. Panthers, the sequel. But this time there’s a twist – I’m going to try really hard to switch up the picks, or at least the reasoning, for as many of the 30 teams as possible.

Hey, when has a strategy of running it back every failed anyone in the past? Let’s do this.

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Canada vs. USA: Two fans forced to watch each country’s worst 2025 NHL playoff ads

Every year, there's one post that more people ask me about than any other. Which is weird, because it has next to nothing to do with hockey.

That would be this post, of course -- the annual "bad ads" piece, in which two Seans from different countries create an international exchange program for annoying commercials. You know the ones; the kind you see once or twice and maybe aren't too bothered by, right up until you realize that they're going to keep popping up constantly as you try to enjoy the NHL playoffs. That's when the annoyance begins to build. Sometimes, it grows into rage. Or despair. Or whatever that was that "Tara Tara look at her go" made us feel.

We first tried this back in 2020, and it's become an annual tradition. This time around, in a year where relations between our two countries have been strained, to put it mildly, it feels more important than ever. After all, we may have our differences. But at least we all know how to pronounce the word "liberty", and buy a proper cantaloupe. Here we go...

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