The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a less-than-ideal position without their superstar. Was their win over the weekend a sign of what's to come?
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been slow to adjust to the realities of a post-Mitch Marner world.
To think that would not be the case is totally unreasonable.
The Maple Leafs are 4-4-1 after splitting a home-and-home with the Buffalo Sabres last weekend. They’re currently outside of the top eight in the Eastern Conference, but that is the same record the club had with Marner this time one year ago.
The departure of the most unpopular member of the “Core Four” does not diminish his importance to the club where he played for nine years and his impact the Leafs are trying to replace.
Marner was fifth in the NHL for average ice time among forwards (21:19), played on the top line as the setup man for Auston Matthews, served as the quarterback of the Leafs five-forward power play and was on the club’s top penalty-killing unit. More than that, he was a defensive hound on the puck at even strength, which Toronto has missed.
So far, Marner’s absence has affected the man advantage the most. The Leafs are 28th in power-play percentage with Morgan Rielly at the point after finishing in the top 10 last season. Toronto was 17th in PK percentage last season and is slightly better this October at 15th.
The Leafs thus far have seemed unsettled and searching for answers.
Fewer than 10 games into the season, coach Craig Berube has installed newcomer Matias Maccelli, rookie Easton Cowan and veteran Max Domi in Marner’s place, all with little or no success. Last week, after a particularly vacuous 5-2 loss to New Jersey, Berube chose to scramble all of his forward lines, putting Matthews with William Nylander and Matthew Knies with veteran John Tavares.
GM Brad Treliving was unable to find a replacement for Marner to play with Matthews over the summer. The additions of Nicolas Roy (acquired from Vegas in the sign-and-trade for Marner), Dakota Joshua and Maccelli were the Leafs’ attempt to “change the DNA” of the club, as Treliving said after the second round loss to the Florida Panthers, and to replace the departed 102-point right winger in the aggregate, the term popularized in the movie Moneyball.
Roy, a right-handed checking center who won a Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023, and Joshua, a former Leaf draft pick who played for Berube briefly in St. Louis and scored 18 goals in Vancouver two years ago, provide the size and pushback that Toronto lacked against the Panthers.
Maccelli, who averaged 39 assists in each of his first two full NHL seasons, was added to help fill some of the playmaking void.
In the Leafs' 4-3 overtime victory over Buffalo on Saturday, Maccelli and Joshua scored key goals, and Toronto played more defensively sound and with the physicality more typical of Berube-coached clubs.
“It was a low-event game, but you play teams like (Buffalo), you’ve got to make sure you are not giving those freebies up,” Berube told reporters post-game. “We didn’t do that. I thought our guys played hard, I liked the jam they played with tonight, physical, (with) a couple nice hits, just a little bit pissed off.
“We all gotta chip in that department. That’s part of our team. I thought we were a physical, hard forechecking team last year, and we’ve got to get back to that.”
It is clear from comments made by Marner and agent Darren Ferris following the departure that the all-star did not want to return to the Leafs after being the focal point of the fan base’s disdain. While that disdain may be justified by his disappearing act in do-or-die playoff games, it does not mean his absence in the regular season will not be felt.
The Leafs are and will be a different team without Marner, which may mean that a spot in the top three in the Atlantic Division is not a fait accompli. It may also mean that an early post-season exit is not etched in stone.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.