Mitch Marner buried by Jordan Staal's post-Cup winning comments.

It was looking like a storybook playoff run for Mitch Marner in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, right up until the moment it wasn't. Despite an incredible 29 points in just 22 playoff games during this run, Marner would come up just short of his ultimate goal when the Carolina Hurricanes eliminated Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

As if that wasn't bad enough, fans who were already looking for an excuse to dogpile on Marner after the loss on Sunday night have been quick to point to comments made by Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal as a way to do just that. Following the huge win for the Hurricanes, Staal made a point of calling out players who "jump ship" rather than being loyal to an organization with many fans pointing to Marner as an example of that very type of player.

"That was another thing," said Staal during a post-Cup winning interview. "Sticking with it, some guys just jump ship."

While I can certainly understand why passionate fans in Toronto would draw a connection to Marner, I believe it is far more likely Staal was talking about some of the talented former teammates who left the Hurricanes more recently like Mikko Rantanen and Jake Guentzel.

That being said it certainly is fair to criticize Marner for leaving his team for greener pastures, only to stumble in the same moments he has in the past. Despite an incredible playoff run Marner faded in the moments that mattered the most, something that fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be all too familiar with. Marner failed to register a point in either Game 5 or Game 6, finishing those two games with a combined plus minus rating of -4, and even deflected a goal into his own net in Game 6.