Bruce Boudreau rips into Mitch Marner for his "we played well" comment after Maple Leafs' 3-0 shutout to Canucks

Bruce Boudreau criticized Mitch Marner’s comments after the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 3-0 to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Despite the team’s struggles, Marner said that he "liked" the Leafs’ effort and thought that they played well.

"I liked it. I thought we played well, I really did. The last couple of games, we’ve been giving up plays to teams that aren’t missing on them," Marner had said.

That came after Toronto had lost two straight games, with weak defense and a poor power play.

Boudreau said that he's unhappy with Mitch Marner's comment. He explained that he would have asked Marner if he was serious about saying the team played well. Boudreau felt that if Marner truly believed that, he should watch the game tape. According to Boudreau, the effort wasn't up to par.

(0:42) "I would have pulled him inside and said, ‘Mitch, what do you really mean by that? Are you just trying to be a smart a** in saying that. ... I don't think we have, and even if you have thought that, I don't want you to say it in public right after what I said, because it makes me look like a dummy.

"So ... here, if we didn't play good, we didn't play good. But I mean, if you thought we played good, let's review the tape tomorrow, because that wasn't a very good effort’. That's what I would have said," Boudreau said.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, with a record of 27-15-2, next face the Dallas Stars, who have a record of 27-14-1, at 7 p.m. EST on Tuesday,

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Bruce Boudreau also pointed out Mitch Marner's self-focused comments

In the 2024-25 regular season, Mitch Marner has played 44 games, scoring 14 goals and 45 assists for 59 points.

Marner's plus-minus is 2, and he has 10 penalty minutes. He took 106 shots, with 5 power-play goals, 17 power-play assists, one short-handed goal. He scored four game-winning goals and averaged 21 minutes and 25 seconds of ice time per game, while hs production rate is 15:58.

Bruce Boudreau suggested that Mitch Marner might be focused on his own performance, which hasn’t been great recently. He feels Marner is thinking about himself rather than the team’s overall performance.

(1:36) "He's probably feeling a little sorry for himself because he hasn't been that great in the last couple games. But to me, he's looking at himself and not thinking about what the team feels like. He's thinking about what he feels like," Boudreau added.

Boudreau stressed that after a tough loss, it’s important to be honest and not make comments that could mislead others.