Once upon a time, the Philadelphia Flyers were among the favorites to sign Mitch Marner in free agency. Not everyone supported the idea at the time, and now that stance looks foolish.

At this time last year, the Flyers had the second-best odds to land Marner, now 29, on the open market, behind only the Chicago Blackhawks, who had every incentive to break the bank to improve Connor Bedard's supporting cast.

Marner instead had his rights traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Vegas Golden Knights for forward Nicolas Roy, a 28-year-old center coming off a 31-point campaign.

Marner then signed a very modest eight-year, $96 million ($12 million AAV) contract with Vegas, and the rest, as they say, is history.

With two assists against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on Sunday night, Marner is now up to seven goals, 14 assists, and 21 points in 15 playoff games.

For his career, the former No. 4 overall pick is now up to 84 points in 85 playoff games. Not bad for a player who had a reputation for being a playoff choker.

And for the Flyers, this is just another case of missed opportunity.

Repeating the Roy-for-Marner trade would have likely required them to part ways with someone like Noah Cates or Ryan Poehling; the latter was later packaged for Trevor Zegras instead.

Flyers Offseason: Odds Mitch Marner Trades the Maple Leafs for Philadelphia Are High Fans hoping the Philadelphia Flyers swing big for Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Mitch Marner might see their wish come true this summer. At least, that's what the oddsmakers are thinking.

Heading into this offseason, Flyers general manager Danny Briere stated outright that the team believed more players would be available in free agency, but Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov, and Artemi Panarin all took themselves off the market with contract extensions throughout the year.

So, the Flyers missed out on Marner, if they were ever in on him, and the Maple Leafs opted to send him to the Western Conference.

That scenario could very well play out again this summer, with big-ticket RFAs like Jason Robertson, Pavel Dorofeyev, and even Adam Fantilli potentially there for the taking.

But, to put into perspective how rare Marner's situation was, 2027 unrestricted free agents include Nikita Kucherov, Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and Nico Hischier.

Kucherov is the only superstar forward in that group, and Hughes may be the only one who ends up on a new team, more than likely joining forces with Hischier on the New Jersey Devils.

Now that Marner and former Flyers John Tortorella and Carter Hart are within one win of reaching the Stanley Cup Final, now is a good time to reiterate that the Flyers must be opportunistic to be successful in their rebuild.

Remember When the Flyers Were Favorites to Sign Mitch Marner?