Introduction
William Nylander and Mitch Marner have a lot in common. On the ice, both are dynamic right wingers who will produce close to 100 points annually while complementing the true franchise cornerstone Auston Matthews. They were the Maple Leafs’ first top-10 picks in the ‘Shannaplan’ era, they both had major contract holdouts with Toronto as RFAs, and both of them successfully leveraged their way into major 8-year deals. And that is where their differences begin. Nylander got himself a massive $92 million contract from the Maple Leafs while Marner forced his way to Vegas and cashed in with a $96 million payday. Despite sharing the same position and role in the Maple Leafs lineup, they accomplish their jobs very differently.
Career Accomplishment
Obviously, both will have similar team accomplishments having played together in Toronto for their entire careers. However, Nylander’s resume pales deeply to Marner’s in almost every way. In just the 2015-16 season, Marner won the OHL Championship, Memorial Cup (CHL Championship), the CHL Player of the Year, OHL Playoff MVP, and the Memorial Cup MVP. Just this February, he won the 4-Nations Faceoff tournament with Canada, actually beating Nylander head-to-head. He also has five all-star game appearances. Nylander does have an impressive international resume, highlighted by his 2017 World Hockey Championship Gold Medal win (over Marner’s Canada team) and many personal accolades playing for Sweden. However, with just one all-star game appearance, it is very clear that Marner has had the better career thus far.
Edge: Marner
Hockey IQ
Both are smart players who rarely cost teams games with unnecessary mistakes. Marner’s hockey IQ is much more apparent and likelier to produce social media content for fans with his ability to find teammates (really I mean Auston Matthews). It can be via a no-look pass, a fake, or by reading the defense like a book. Nylander’s is less likely to go viral but can be just as useful. His ability to sneak behind opposing defenses to generate breakaways (and often goals) are something that really does not get enough attention, especially when his breakaway move is so highlight-worthy. They both are great at finding open areas in the middle of the ice and attacking and entering weak areas of the opponent’s defense.
However, Marner’s defensive prowess is useful in all situations. On defense, he has much more elite anticipation to pick off his opponents (638 takeaways to 468). He is also able to quarterback at a much higher level than Nylander would be able to. His hockey IQ is never not used but Nylander’s is only limited to one side of the puck.
Edge: Marner
Skating
Neither are fast enough to seriously contend in the fastest skaters competition but Nylander’s is extremely underrated. It’s what allows him to take advantage of his great hockey IQ on his breakaway and often why he is able to fool goalies. Marner’s skating speed is average but he has the elite edges to play defense if he wanted and this definitely helps him quarterback powerplays and handle pucks at the blueline.
Edge: Neither
Offensive Talent & Production
Obviously, both are all-stars for their ability to dominate this category and both are paid upwards of 11 million dollars to do so. Marner is able to electrify an offense to life with skating, with flash, with simple/complex passing, or with his sneaky great goal scoring abilities in tight (like he did in his 35 goal 2022 campaign). Unfortunately, Nylander is extremely one-dimensional offensively in that if he’s not the one shooting scoring the goals he isn’t very noticeable in an offense. Marner will bring the best out of his linemates while Nylander’s biggest contribution (again, if he isn’t the one scoring) is drawing the defense’s attention away from his linemates. The common linemates these two share most are Auston Matthews and John Tavares. It is not a coincidence that Tavares’s goal-scoring production fell off a cliff once Nylander became his winger, replacing Marner, after Mike Babcock was fired for Sheldon Keefe. It is also not coincidental that Matthews’s two 60 goal campaigns came with Marner as his primary playmaker. Marner has produced at a 100-point level annually. Nylander (other than his 98 point 2024 contract year) produces at a point per game level each year.
Edge: Marner
Defensive Play
This is by far the easiest category to distinguish (at least for now). Nylander has never been a very responsible defensive player (in fact some of his breakaways are from neglecting this side of the puck). Marner has been in Selke conversations for the past three years (and even a finalist in 2022-23) and for great reason. He was tied for third in the league in takeaways this season with 56 (but even more impressive was the fact he was the only forward in the top ten). He is also a much harder backchecker and much more effective in puck pressuring than Nylander. It’s not impossible for Nylander to become a great defensive player (like it wasn’t for Leon Draisatel) but for now his defense is significantly behind.
Edge: Marner
Physicality
Often, the media interprets physicality to just be a player’s ability to dish out punishment upon the opponent. However, more important is their ability to take this punishment and still be as effective a player. This shows most often in the playoffs. Nylander absorbs contact with much greater poise and is still able to score when his opponents are taking all his space and ramming him through the boards. He is much harder to take off the puck. Unforunately for Marner, he cannot take physical punishment in the same way and often becomes predictable after some punishment. Obviously, neither truly is able to hit an opponent hard enough to create an impact, but Nylander is much better at absorbing contact and not letting it take him out of the game.
Edge: Nylander
Clutch Performance
This category is much closer than those who only watch the playoffs would otherwise believe. Marner has always performed well in important moments when he isn’t playing for the Maple Leafs. With the London Knights. He had a key assist to Matthew Tkachuk to open the scoring in the Memorial Cup final and averaged over 2 points per game his last two playoff runs. In the four-nations tournament he scored the game winner against Sweden on opening night and set up Connor McDavid in the slot in the gold-medal game. Without either of these moments, Canada would not have win gold. Even in the playoffs, he was terrific in 2018 with 9 points in 7 games against the Boston Bruins and was the main reason they even had a lead in the third period of game seven. Unfortunately, his lack of performance can be considered the main factor in each of the seven Leafs eliminations that followed 2018 (other than 2022). Nylander is one of the few Leafs who have played to or even exceeded expectations in the postseason and is the only player consistently scoring clutch goals for Toronto. Similarly to Marner, he has never left his country disappointed internationally. His ability to thrive under the pressure of the postseason was the main reason he received his massive contract. The Leafs only thrive in the postseason when Marner joins Nylander in delivering under pressure. Regrettably, this has rarely happened.
Edge: Nylander
Conclusion
Once again, they are both excellent players and fans probably need to acknowledge that more. The lack of recognition in Toronto for their elite talent was a driving cause of Marner’s infamous exit and always put Nylander in trade rumors every summer. Nylander is the superior goal scorer and scoring goals is the most important element in hockey. Nylander is a superior big game performer and that is often how legacies are dictated. However Marner is the superior player in every other aspect of hockey, he is more talented and easier to incorporate into an offense and will instantly make his defense’s jobs easier with great backchecking and effort.
The Leafs made a mistake not sacrificing Nylander to keep Marner and they will probably regret it even more if Marner helps lead Vegas back to the promised land.
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