Ask any Leaf about Mitch Marner and his chase for the franchise record for consecutive games with a point and they’ll inevitably bring up his defence. It wasn’t just the points that made him special, they all said, it was the fact that he brought all that offence with elite defending.

“Obviously he’s been on a heater here and we’re all really happy for him,” Michael Bunting said after Marner registered a point in his 18th straight game in a win over the Sharks on Wednesday night, matching Darryl Sittler and Eddie Olczyk for top spot in Leafs history. “He’s playing unbelievable on the D side of the game, but also obviously producing offensively.”

Which got me to thinking: Is there anyone like Marner in the NHL today — or Leafs history for that matter?

Of course, there are plenty of NHL forwards who combine elite defence with elite offence. But are there any quite like Marner, a winger with A+ passing skills who also happens to be one of the very best defenders, including on the penalty kill?

“There’s only one Mitch Marner out there, that’s for sure,” Bunting said. “He’s very unique.”

Who’s even the closest comparable?

Coming up through the ranks with the London Knights, Marner was often compared to Patrick Kane — and for good reason: Both were undersized wingers able to stickhandle in tight spaces and make offensive magic happen.

But Kane, who won a Hart Trophy and multiple Cups with Chicago and will end up in the Hall of Fame one day, has never had Marner’s defensive chops.

Brad Marchand is a similarly small-ish winger who combines great defence with great offence, but he plays a feistier, more in-your-face kind of game — by a longshot — than Marner. Mikko Rantanen lives in the same neighbourhood as Marner as a passer, but he’s never killed penalties for the Avalanche like Marner does for the Leafs.