What the Maple Leafs Gained by Letting Marner Go

While Marchand didn’t specifically say the Maple Leafs were better without him, he planted the seed indirectly. It’s an idea worth engaging with. So, stated directly, are the Maple Leafs a better team now than when Marner played 20 minutes per night on the first line with Auston Matthews?

With Marner No Longer Around, How Did the Maple Leafs Need to Change?

To answer that question, fans must consider what the team looks like now. The obvious difference is that the Maple Leafs are not currently in a playoff position. That never happened with a Toronto team with Marner in its lineup. The team’s recent run of success—a nine-game point streak—puts them close, however. Does this mean the team has turned the corner on the season? We’ll see.

The team without Marner had to change the way it played. Specifically, without Marner, the Maple Leafs were forced to simplify. With Marner on the ice, the puck gravitated to his stick. On the current team, the puck doesn’t stop with one player. Young forwards, from Easton Cowan to Matthew Knies, have more responsibility in the top six. Lines are more balanced.

With one fewer elite player, everyone else has to earn their ice on the team. Everyone else has to earn his ice, contribute to the system, and think two steps ahead rather than relying on a star like Marner to conjure his magic. That’s a different kind of hockey—less dazzling, but perhaps harder to break down than when Marner took the ice.

There’s Also the Question of the Maple Leafs’ Structure

There’s also the shift in team culture. Marner’s departure freed coaches and teammates to prioritize structure, defensive accountability, and shared responsibility. We saw it against the Panthers and again in the next two games against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks. The team played more disciplined hockey, had better gap control, and benefited from timely contributions from both primary and secondary scorers.

There’s an argument that team cohesion can get lost when a single playmaker, such as Marner, dominates attention and ice time. In a league that punishes lapses ruthlessly, structure matters almost as much as flash. Perhaps that fact, more than the narrative that “Marner didn’t show up in the playoffs,” was the difference between postseason success and postseason failure.

There’s Also the Question of the Player Opportunity

Another factor is opportunity. The Maple Leafs now have young, hungry players stepping into roles that might have been blocked or overshadowed. You could argue these new leaders are finding their stride because Marner is gone. A case in point is Nicholas Robertson, whose goal last night put him into double figures (10) with the same point total (22) in 42 games this season that he put up last season in 69 games. The way Robertson is playing now gives him a chance to double that point total by season’s end.

Sometimes a vacuum produces innovation; sometimes it forces growth. For this Maple Leafs team, the change in personnel has already reshaped who touches the puck, how shifts flow, and which players feel pressure to rise to the occasion.

No Question, Marner Was an Elite Hockey Talent

Honestly, Marner was a star. His point-per-game production mattered. But hockey is messy. Chemistry, balance, and depth can be just as vital as raw talent. Right now, the Maple Leafs are seeing the trade-off play out in real time.

The third line of Nicolas Roy, Robertson, and Cowan is a metaphor for the season. It’s a curious line combination that is beginning to gain chemistry. A disciplined veteran center who never seems anything but calm with the puck, mentoring two youngsters who are beginning to get a feel for the NHL game. It’s a disciplined, more structured approach that helps the team develop younger players, spread responsibilities, and learn to win without relying on one player to do it all.

Could the Maple Leafs Actually Be Stronger Without Marner?

So, could the Maple Leafs actually be better without Marner? The answer is complicated. Better doesn’t mean perfect. It doesn’t mean they’re more dangerous, only that they’re evolving in ways that weren’t possible with him in the lineup. For now, the question hangs there—the elephant in the room—and fans, media, and the team itself will be forced to confront it as the season unfolds.

Without Marner, the Maple Leafs aren’t guaranteed a playoff spot—they’re still chasing. A star like he was matters. But sometimes, losing a key player forces a team to do something new. It creates space to learn, to adjust, and to discover what kind of team it really can be.

Should the Maple Leafs secure a playoff spot, is there a chance they will enter the postseason with a better chance of success? How fun would it be to watch?