Nick Alberga

Without question, as somebody who has covered the Maple Leafs for a long period of time, has been a fan of the organization for a long period of time, Mitch Marner was MIA in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the most part.

He really, really struggled with the pressure of the market.

Certainly was not the same guy that he is in Vegas.

So I think two things can be right.

He didn't have his best moments in the Cup playoffs with the Maple Leafs, and he's been awesome here with the Vegas Golden Knights.

And I completely agree with you.

I think right now, following two games in this Cup final, I know Brett Howden's making some noise.

He's got 13 goals now.

I think Marner's got to be the frontrunner for the Consummate Trophy.

But I think when you look back at his tenure, I think Least Nation in general, a little annoyed, a little perturbed, a little pissed off.

why that didn't happen in Toronto.

But I think it's fair to bring up that this Golden Knights team is very well-rounded.

Their blue line's outstanding.

The goaltending's been really, really good.

And for as good as those Maple Leafs teams were in the past, at least in the regular season, I think there's another layer to this Golden Knights team.

And there's a reason why they're three wins away from another cup here, guys.

Probably a bit of both.

Like the other name I like to bring up is Phil Kessel, who suddenly left Toronto and then boom, two cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, one more later on, clearly at the end of his career.

But I think it's probably to answer your question, probably somewhere in the middle.

I think the support wasn't there the same in Toronto.