Absurd Suggestion Involving Mitch Marner and Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Immediately Debunked

It's been a rough start to the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, there is no question about it. After winning their season opener against the Canadiens, the Leafs have dropped back-to-back games to the Detroit Red Wings, and are currently 1-2-0 on the season.

A big reason for the Leafs' slow start has been the sudden challenges to convert good chances into goals -- something that one hockey account on social media tried to connect to their loss of Mitch Marner.

On Monday, during the Leafs' 3-2 loss to the Red Wings, @NHLSpotlight had tweeted out the following message:

On Tuesday morning, @CorsiHL was quick to step in to point out one important detail, and make NHL Spotlight look silly in the process.

The idea that Pavel Dorofeyev's sudden rise to stardom is linked to the Golden Knight's acquisition of Mitch Marner in some way is completely illogical.

Marner and Dorofeyev do not even play on the same line. In fact, the only time they share the ice is when the Golden Knights are on the power play.

Yes, Dorofeyev does have 4 power play goals on the season, but with Marner not factoring in on a single one, it seems like a stretch to directly attribute Dorofeyev's success to Marner.

The truth is that the Russian winger was already a quality player and an elite sniper long before Marner arrived in Vegas. Dorofeyev produced 35 goals last season, including 13 power play tallies -- all without Marner.

If you want to reach and suggest that Auston Matthews' early struggles are directly linked to the loss of Marner, that's fine, but it's not exactly accurate either. Matthews has enjoyed plenty of success in his career without Mitch Marner on his flank.

One needs only recall the season in which Matthews spent time with Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi on the infamous Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi line in 2023-24 to discover that Matthews can score with anyone on his wing.

The truth is that Matthews is generating a lot of chances -- perhaps more than ever before. The puck just isn't crossing the goal line for him, which is a problem that won't last.

In Monday's matinee loss to the Red Wings, Matthews fired a whopping 15 shots towards the Red Wings' net. Only 8 made it to the target, and none wound up in the net. If he continues to fire it the way he has been, it's only a matter of time before they begin to drop.

Attributing Matthews' early scoring woes just seems like a desperate grasping at straws to try to make it about Mitch Marner -- especially given Matthews' high shot volume in his last two games.

Three games is such a small sample size, and if I know the game as well as I think I do, when we look back on this at the 20-game mark, it will seem very silly to everyone to have made this connection, including NHL Spotlight.