Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon defended Mitch Marner, and mocked Toronto Maple Leafs people still thinking about his exit.
Speaking on TSN following the Vegas Golden Knights advancing to the Stanley Cup finals, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon spoke about what makes the Knights run different from the playoff runs under Toronto.
McCrimmon said that the Knights depth options beyond Marner and Jack Eichel are key to the team's success, but that also the team's other stars can step up when one player isn't getting on the scoresheet.
My own opinion is we have a deeper team, and when you get to the playoffs, everybody has to take a turn. And when it comes down to, you know, two or three or four players being responsible for your team advancing to the next round? That's a stiff challenge, and that's a hard way to win. - Kelly McCrimmon
McCrimmon brought up the struggles of Jonathan Marchessault early in the Vegas cup run in 2023, eventually winning the Conn Smythe after strong performances late in the postseason.
On some in Toronto still thinking about Marner and what went wrong then vs what's going right now, McCrimmon urged those questioning Marner to move on.
So, I know, it's Toronto, I know, it's Mitch Marner, I know it's polarizing. But, for me, it's a little bit about the guys ex-girlfriend moving away and doing well. At some point, you got to get over it. - McCrimmon
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McCrimmon said Vegas wins because everyone takes a turn and Toronto lost because two or three players carried everything
Kelly McCrimmon pointed out that Vegas has deep depth that can contribute from top to bottom, and that's what makes them a successful team.
Going back to their inaugural season in which the Golden Knights made the finals, losing to the Washington Capitals, balance has always defined the club, four forward lines and three defensive pairings able to play with high effort, regardless of the top end.
Even goaltending, which has been the weakness of the Golden Knights this offseason, has seemingly been solved this playoffs with the surprise dominant performance of Carter Hart in net.
Vegas is succeeding because of their depth, especially the bottom-six and their depth defenders able to be a positive, where Toronto in the 2025 playoffs having relied on their top players, with a lack of scoring beyond the core four.
Relying on Matthews, Marner, Nylander, & Tavares every year proved to be unsuccessful, and for whatever criticism can be had at any of the four, an even bigger problem was the rest of the team failing to reach their standard.
Kelly McCrimmon is right, the Toronto Maple Leafs never had with the Mitch Marner era the supporting cast beyond the core-four to progress further in the playoffs to true contender status.
Beyond the top-six and the top pairing of Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Toronto struggled to get offense going in the 2025 playoffs, a 36-year-old Max Pacioretty being one of the most impactful postseason contributors outside of Toronto's top guys is an indictment on what went wrong.
Besides Pacioretty, the rest of Toronto's bottom-six combined for just nine points, and zero goals, and not including healthy scratch Nick Robertson, who scored the lone goal in the game five 6-1 blowout loss.
With the potential of drafting Gavin McKenna this offseason, making him the Mitch Marner on offense won't be enough if the Leafs can't take the lesson to build from the bottom up if they really want to succeed.
Toronto just got their winning blueprint from McCrimmon, and it's about building a deep and balanced lineup; not just about a handful of superstars to carry the load.
Did Mitch Marner fail the Leafs or did the Leafs fail Mitch Marner's prime?
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