‘Marner Took A Lot Of Heat’: Pair of Former Maple Leafs Coaches Defend Mitch Marner On Play That Ended Toronto's Stanley Cup Playoffs

After the Toronto Maple Leafs ended their season in the most dreadful way of overtime in a Game 7, many fans were quick to point the finger at forward Mitch Marner. The Bruins put away the Leafs for the fourth time in the last eleven years in the first round and they did so through a set play that saw defenseman Hampus Lindholm and forward David Pastrnak connect on a set play – which they have run before in the regular season.

Upon first glance, it looked as if Pastrnak was Marner’s man to cover as the Czech Republic native slithered his way behind the Maple Leafs’ winger and started to gather speed through the neutral zone. This resulted in a give-and-go between Pastrnak and Lindholm that led to a dump-in off of the end wall to pop in front for the forward to bury.

However, former Maple Leafs’ and current Head Coach of the Florida Panthers Paul Maurice, begged to differ regarding Marner’s positioning on the play.

“Marner took an awful lot of heat,” said Maurice. “They run a different neutral zone than what Boston does. The expectation of who’s got who’s guy; you want to be careful with that one. You really need to know what the team runs before you call a guy out.”

“What we [Florida] run in our neutral zone is completely different from what Boston runs. We would have a completely different person picking up that wide sling. That’s just me telling you that not all the analysis of what happened on that play might be accurate,” Maurice told reporters ahead of Game 1 between the Panthers and Bruins.

Sometimes, emotions can cloud the judgment of players, especially when the given player is already under fire. As Maurice’s comments began to gain traction on Twitter, another former Maple Leafs personnel chimed in, Andrew Brewer, who was an Assistant Coach with the team from 2015 to 2020. Brewer mentioned that “Paul Maurice is spot on” in the quote he is referring to.

“The Leafs run a 1-2-2, and as he alludes to, it was the change by Bertuzzi that led to the chaos in the Neutral Zone. Although it’s a bad look, in Toronto’s system that’s not Mitch’s guy,” Brewer stated in a Twitter post on Monday.

In a Tweet posted later on Monday, Brewer mentioned how the Leafs run what’s called a 1-2-2 “D Absorb” which essentially includes the weak side defenseman gapping up or “absorbing” the rush on the weak side of the ice. If the puck were to shift to the weak side, the defense is already present to take away the time and space that was given to Pastrnak.

Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly was yet another member to come to the defense of his teammate when the topic was revisited at Monday’s end-of-season availability. When asked about the heat Marner has taken in the Toronto market and his presence as a Toronto Maple Leaf, Rielly stated, “I think he’s [Marner] an amazing human and a great hockey player. So any heat or anything like that, I believe, would be undeserved.”

As someone who has spent their entire 11-year tenure with the Maple Leafs, Rielly can certainly speak to the pressure and culture that comes with playing in the Toronto market.

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