Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 Players Who Need to Step Up in Round One

2) Mitch Marner

If there is anyone capable of taking his game to the next level, Marner is that player. In 34 playoff games in the OHL he has 28 goals, 41 assists for 69 points.

Then in last year’s Memorial Cup he had 14 points in four games, winning the scoring title, and the MVP. He has the pedigree the Leafs need, but can he translate that success to the NHL playoffs?

It will help that he will be playing with James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, who have done well on his line this season. Van Riemsdyk has the experience with the Philadelphia Flyers including seven goals in 11 games in 2010-11 and seven points in seven games with the Leafs in 2012-13.

What Marner will be asked to do more is shoot, because he does have a good shot and the Capitals will expect him to pass it more. He did not have the best end to the season with only four goals in his last 20 games.

This is the most hockey Marner has played over his career. However, even with a slow end to the season all of that can be forgotten with a strong playoff performance.

People like to compare Marner to Patrick Kane and since 2008, Kane leads the NHL with 49 goals and is third in points with 121 points in 123 games, behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Marner could be the Leafs x-factor in this series.