Marner's versatility filling multiple roles for Golden Knights in Western 1st Round

LAS VEGAS -- What is Mitch Marner's role on the Vegas Golden Knights?

First-line left wing? Second-line center? Power-play quarterback? Penalty killer?

The answer is yes.

The 28-year-old has handled a lot from game to game and within games all season, while adjusting to a new team after playing his first nine NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now he’s doing it again in the Western Conference First Round against the Utah Mammoth.

In Game 1, he started out on the top line with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone. Less than two periods later, he was on the second line with Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev, and he stayed there for Game 2.

He has two power-play assists and is averaging 20:39 of ice time in the best-of-7 series, tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, Utah 16, SCRIPPS, TBS, TVAS2, SN360).

“I think Mitch has been fantastic,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said entering the series. “I think he is a great player. I think he makes our team so much better. He’s a great teammate, really well-liked by everyone in the organization, and yeah, I think he’s had a great year. It’s different when you look at only the points, which some people like to do.”

Marner had 80 points (24 goals, 56 assists) in 81 regular-season games after the Golden Knights acquired him in a trade with the Maple Leafs on July 1 and signed him to an eight-year, $96 million contract ($12 million average annual value).

That would be outstanding for most players. For him, it was a huge drop off from last season, when he set an NHL career high with 102 points (27 goals, 75 assists) in 81 games. He generated his fewest points per game (0.99) in eight seasons. 

But in Toronto, he was playing right wing with center Auston Matthews. A pass-first player, he played consistently with maybe the best goal-scorer in the game, and they had great chemistry.

In Vegas, he started out on the right wing with Eichel, but they’re both pass-first players and it didn’t click. He ended up playing some center when the Golden Knights needed him to due to injuries, and he hasn’t had consistent linemates. That has continued since John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as coach March 29.

McCrimmon pointed out that Eichel set an NHL career high with 36 goals with the Buffalo Sabres in 2019-20. He had 27 goals in 2022-23, his first full season with Vegas, and won the Stanley Cup.

“So, it’s not all points, right?” McCrimmon said. “… There’s just so many things in the game over the course of a night that are so special in terms of what he does with his hockey sense and his skill.

“He’s switched positions. He hasn’t been a centerman in the National Hockey League his entire career. He's moved in to play lots of center ice. He’s played lots of wing, obviously, as well. That’s been moving around a little bit under 'Torts.' But yeah, he’s a tremendous player.”

It’s still difficult, even if you are a tremendous player. But Marner has embraced it.

“I think there’s been different moments of learning curves -- some good moments, some moments maybe where you’d like it be a little better, a little more fluid,” Marner said. “But I think that’s the whole thing. You know, you move into a new team. You’re getting used to new linemates. I’ve kind of been bouncing around with different guys, different positions.

“So I think my thing is always just trying to be responsible in our (defensive) zone and with the puck. I always try to focus on those things first and then just kind of trust that everything else will come along with it.”

Marner said he shared some center responsibilities when he played with Matthews.

“Whenever one of us were low, we trusted that guy low, and then if we had to switch up, we’d do it,” he said. “I think it’s pretty easy to adjust to play low in our (defensive) zone just to help out (defense), try to get the puck in hands low in support and try to work up the ice with my head up, trying to make plays, trying to find guys, hit the middle or easy enough to find them over the blue line.”

While bouncing around in this series, Marner has had to adjust to his teammates’ tendencies.

“Obviously, Jack likes to hang onto the puck and make plays," he said, "and for me, it’s just trying to find open areas that can support him in and help him in and figure out ways to get pucks out of sticky situations. And with ‘Howie,’ it’s obviously just trying to tell him to find slot, find net front, try to find holes that I can get pucks into him.”

Stone, who played on a line with Marner with Team Canada at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics in February, has a lot of respect for him.

“It’s tough, right?” Stone said. “He came in (to Vegas). We had some injuries at the center ice position, and we had to play him at center. I would imagine that, for how easy he made it look, it was a difficult transition.

“But I think he’s come as advertised. He’s a good two-way player. Obviously, the skill is the skill. You see it on a daily basis. You know what type of skill he has. But he’s got a lot of little skills that maybe I didn’t know, whether that’s killing a penalty, intercepting plays. Just all-around great hockey player, so if there’s a guy that can make the transition from wing to center, it’s a guy like him.

“Even, you see, he’s getting better face-offs. He’s taking pride at getting better with the face-offs, because we use him all over the place.”