![\"Mitch](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2279516635-e1780517393835.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Former Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> forward Mitch Marner is currently one of the odds-on favorites to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as he leads all playoff scorers in total points.<\/p>\n Right now, he and the Vegas Golden Knights have a one game to none lead in the Stanley Cup Final over the Carolina Hurricanes, whom they defeated in a wild back and forth affair in Game 1 on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n This has Maple Leafs fans and Insiders everywhere wondering how things could have been different for the \u201cCore Four\u201d era of Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander with the franchise, who only won a total of two playoff series in nine years.<\/p>\n Jay Rosehill Blasts Former Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Mitch Marner As \u201cTimid\u201d<\/p>\n During a recent episode of The Leafs Nation with Nick Alberga, NHL Insider Jay Rosehill was asked to respond to the comments by Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon in which he attributed Marner\u2019s success in part because Vegas is \u201cdeeper\u201d.<\/p>\n Rosehill said that while he agreed partially with McCrimmon\u2019s comments, he believes Marner essentially wasted a prime era of Maple Leafs hockey with timid play.<\/p>\n \u201cTo a degree,\u201d Rosehill said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not saying the Leafs should have rattled off Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup, they had goaltending issues, they had defensive issues. But one of the main issues, as well \u2013 go watch the hockey games. You\u2019re playing on a line with Auston Matthews in his prime as he\u2019s winning Rockets<\/a> and Harts and putting up 69 goals in a season. And you have William Nylander on the other side \u2013 and you can\u2019t get anything done.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou were timid, you wouldn\u2019t penetrate, you played from the perimeter,\u201d he said. \u201cYou spun off the difficult spots, you didn\u2019t win the 50-50 battles. You wanted it to be easy. And you probably had to learn and mature and grow, and all the stuff \u2013 fine.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosehill concluded with a rather poignant way of describing Marner\u2019s play \u2013 like a mouse.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you guys didn\u2019t do it, and you can go run the tape and watch all those games in those heartbreaking series when he was a ghost and played like a mouse,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why people were pissed off. Because we\u2019re like, \u2018You\u2019re wasting time. You\u2019re wasting talent, and you\u2019re wasting this era, and they never got the message.’\u201d<\/p>\n Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon Said Vegas Is Deeper Than Toronto<\/p>\n Prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final, Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon was asked about the success that Marner is enjoying with his new club, and said that he believes as a whole, the Golden Knights are a deeper team than the Maple Leafs were during Marner\u2019s time with the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the change has helped him. I think our team is deeper and a better team than what he had played on in Toronto,\u201d McCrimmon said<\/a>. \u201cNot that Toronto didn\u2019t have real good teams. But you have to have that depth throughout your roster. Because to go through three rounds, or hopefully four rounds, everybody has to take their turn.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMichael Whitaker<\/a> Michael Whitaker is a sports journalist based in metro Detroit with nearly a full decade of experience with publications like Clutch Points and The Hockey News. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Eastern Michigan University. More about Michael Whitaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner is currently one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-713445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}