Marner has 'fire' entering second season with Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Mitch Marner came so close to the Stanley Cup in his first season with the Vegas Golden Knights, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.

“You kind of just take that as fire in a way,” Marner said. “You want to try to get back to that position and win two more hockey games. You take that home with you, and you try to work to get back in that position.”

The journey begins Tuesday when the Golden Knights host the Chicago Blackhawks at T-Mobile Arena (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS2).

The 29-year-old forward is in a good place entering his second season with Vegas.

A year ago, Marner was adjusting to a new city and a new team after nine seasons with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yes, he wanted a change as he approached unrestricted free agency, and he received an eight-year, $96 million contract ($12 million average annual value) as part of a sign-and-trade July 1, 2025. But it was still a big change.

During the regular season, he played different positions with different linemates, moving from wing to center when the Golden Knights needed him to because of injuries. He went through a coaching change when John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy with eight games to go.

Marner still had 80 points (24 goals, 56 assists) in 81 games. That would be excellent for most players, but it was a big drop from the NHL career high of 102 points (27 goals, 75 assists) in 81 games he had with Toronto the season before.

Early in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he was still bouncing from position to position with different linemates. But Marner developed chemistry with forward Brett Howden, and then William Karlsson returned from a lower-body injury to center the two of them.

Marner led the NHL in the postseason with 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 22 games.

“The start of the season, it wasn’t going too great,” Marner said. “I think it was a little bit up-and-down, roller-coaster ride, good games, bad games, just kind of all over the map. Kind of just tried to find my groove the best I could in all those situations and playing with different people.

“And I think obviously when me and Howie got together, the chemistry started building. I thought we played some really good hockey together.

“And then obviously when Karl came back, I thought our line was pretty exceptional. I thought we did a lot of good things in all three zones. I thought our line really took care of the defensive zone. We took a lot of pride in that, and I think that resulted in us getting offense.”

Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said he thought Marner had a great season, all things considered.

“When I watch hockey, I see so much more than who’s got the most points,” he said. “I really do. And I look at the impact he has on our team, his understanding of the game, his hockey sense, how he makes other players better. His playoff, he was unbelievable, right? He was that good.

“Now I think the transition will be complete. He’ll have a year under his belt. He knows everything about the organization, the city, so this is likely a little bit of a different feeling for him coming into Year 2. And then I think just the success our team enjoyed through the playoffs and how he played has got to be good for his confidence.”

Marner said he is “definitely comfortable” now. He’s going through another coaching change with Ryan Craig replacing Tortorella, but he said he spent a lot of time with Craig before training camp and expects his role to be more stable.

Craig said the plan is to start with Howden, Karlsson and Marner together, giving them a chance to build on the chemistry they developed in the playoffs. 

“With that line, we have three guys that can play low,” Craig said. “We have three guys that can take face-offs or have taken face-offs. To me, they’re three guys that understand what makes their line work, the support game, taking your turn at middle-lane driving, whatever it may be. That line thrived because they could check and committed to check, and they could transition and make it dangerous.”

That said, injuries can derail any team’s plans, and Craig said the Golden Knights will move Marner around the lineup as needed.

“One thing that makes him a great player is being able to adapt to all those situations and play in those situations and thrive,” Craig said. “He did. He was able to help this team achieve a lot of things last year. … I think that shows a lot about Mitch and his character and what he wants to do to help the hockey team win.”

In the end, that’s all Marner wants to do. 

“You want to be back in that position that we were,” Marner said. “I think there’s a lot of stuff that has to go (right), that we have to do to be in that position again. So, just take it day by day, week by week, make sure we’re focusing on what we can do, focus on how we can try to just win games and be the best team we can be.”