A former Maple Leaf explained exactly why Marner frustrated everyone in the playoffs

Jay Rosehill blasted Kelly McCrimmon for his comments regarding Mitch Marner and related the former Leafs play to that of a silent little church mouse.

Mitch Marner is playing in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time, and Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon believes that they're a much better built team than Toronto ever was. Former Maple Leaf Jay Rosehill vehemently disagrees, and points to Marner's timid and feeble attempts and called him a mouse; so the distaste for Vegas' star is still in full swing.

All credit to Marner, he's legitimately shown up and performed incredibly so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Leading the NHL in points, he's already on a great path to winning as Vegas took Game 1 against Carolina after a stunning comeback from down 3-0.

Jay Rosehill goes off on Mitch Marner's 'mouse-like' play during Toronto's most critical times

But people will still point to the Maple Leafs tenure as the real telling point, as this season is great sure but what about the other nine? That's Jay Rosehill's mentality, and the former Maple Leafs enforcer didn't mince words on the latest Leafs Morning Take podcast.

The co-host blasted Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon and Marner for their comments and lack of heart respectively. He took umbrage with McCrimmon saying Vegas has a better team than Toronto ever did, but it's his focus on Marner that drew the most outrage:

I'm not saying the Maple Leafs should have rattled off Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup, they had goaltending and defensive issues.

But another thing that was a main issue; go watch the games. You're playing on a line with Auston Matthews in his prime, who is winning Rocket's, Hart's, a guy who just put up 69 goals. Then on the other side you have Willy and you couldn't get anything done?

You played timid, you wouldn't penetrate the perimeter, you spun off the difficult spots, didn't win your 50/50's. You wanted it to be easy, and you can grow and mature fine. But watch the games, those heartbreaking series losses where he looked like a ghost and played like a mouse.

That's why people were so pissed off.

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While you can point to Marner being the best playoff performer for Toronto and the other players didn't pull their weight, it's not that he really helped either.

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This was a no-look backhand floater that ended up as Florida's fourth goal in Game 5. He had loads of time and literally no pressure, so why he didn't think to take the puck up ice, or even stop is beyond reasonable logic.

Rosehill's comments ring true if you look at the past, and Vegas can't ignore it

Then you take a look at his 2023-24 postseason where he had three points in seven games; not nearly the production needed. Game 7 vs. Boston he was on the ice for 30 shifts, a minus-1 and no points. Game 7 against Florida in 2024-25? 26 shifts and a minus-2 with no points.

You can argue that he was great when Toronto was hot, but then when he needed to step up, he never took over. If Matthews and Nylander aren't doing enough then why did Marner just...quit? Is he really that dependent on others and scared to take charge?

For a guy whose camp was frustrated that he wasn't thought of for captain it's certainly questionable then why he didn't put the team on his back when it mattered.

To be quite fair to the Golden Knights, they never really had a hard path to get here. Utah and Anaheim weren't going to stop them even if they didn't have Marner, and Colorado just collapsed under their own pressure.

Up against a very tough Carolina team, Marner's seen that things aren't as easy as they used to be. If Jaccob Slavin can shut him down and keep Tomas Hertl, Mark Stone and Jack Eichel in check? It's going to be a very hard win for Vegas despite being up 1-0.

If this series goes to seven games and their entire season is on the line, you have to wonder.

Is Vegas getting the Mitch Marner they've seen for the last 17 games? Or are they getting 2023-24 Marner? If it's the latter, then perhaps McCrimmon is going to be eating a bit of crow for the next little while.

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