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Craig Berube Reveals That Mitch Marner Was the Maple Leafs’ Emotional Leader

Craig Berube had some interesting things to say about the absence of Mitch Marner on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

by
Jackson Weber
July 7, 2026

Toronto Maple Leafs fans aren’t too fond of Mitch Marner anymore, and understandably so given how the hometown kid’s tenure with the team he grew up loving came to an end.

Much of the fanbase was happy to see him leave for the Vegas Golden Knights last summer despite the lack of a return, given he almost made it to July 1 before the Maple Leafs were able to strike a sign-and-trade.

Marner’s absence, however, was felt on and off the ice last season, one that was a disaster for Toronto. Whether his departure played much of a role in the Maple Leafs’ struggles can be debated, but former head coach Craig Berube’s recent comments about the superstar winger suggest that it had a bigger impact on the group than the outside might perceive.

Berube said:

“Oh Mitch Marner for sure. Yeah. I thought Mitch was the energy and he brought the energy and the emotion to the game, I thought, on a nightly basis and in practice. You know, vocal guy, chatted a lot on the bench, chatted a lot at practice, brought the energy. If he came back to the bench, he let guys know, ‘Pick it up, let’s go.’ He was great. I really enjoyed coaching him.

I thought we lost our emotional leader for sure,”

The 28-year-old Marner was, of course, dealt to Vegas in a sign-and-trade last June before inking an eight-year, $96 million extension with the Golden Knights. He put up 80 points (24 goals, 56 assists) in 81 regular-season games before racking up 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 22 playoff games last year.

Mitch Marner Leafs drama — Mitch Marner Leafs exit

While Marner leaving Toronto was long overdue, there’s no doubt it hurt the Maple Leafs to lose a perennial 90-plus-point winger who is excellent defensively and, as Berube stated, was clearly an emotional leader.

What hurts especially is the fact that all they got for him was Nicolas Roy, whom they then flipped for a conditional first-round pick and a fifth-round pick.

Better than nothing, but it’s hard not to imagine how different things could have been had Toronto traded Marner years earlier for a haul to shake up the core and provide a jolt that the team so desperately needed to try and get over the hump.

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