Leafs HC Craig Berube has simple advice for Mitch Marner to reach 100-point milestone

Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs are seeking their first-ever Atlantic Division title this year.

With 98 points, the Maple Leafs currently lead the Atlantic, though Tampa Bay (96 points) and Florida (92 points) still cannot be ruled out.

While the team’s success and winning the division are the priority for Toronto, some of their top players are also chasing down important individual milestones. In the case of Mitch Marner, he’s just six points away from reaching the 100-point mark for the first time in his nine-year NHL career.

Marner has six games remaining in the regular season to produce those six points, and head coach Craig Berube was asked about how his star winger should approach being so close to the milestone.

“Well, I mean, it’s like, um, a guy scoring 50 goals. And, um, you know, it means a lot to the player, individual, and, you know, to our team and to the organization. He’s just gotta make sure he stays in the moment with things and plays the right way and the points will come. He’s a very good player, has the ability to do a lot of good things. So he’s just gotta stay focused and just keep playing his game and focus on playing the team game,” Berube said (12:00).

It’s been well documented that Mitch Marner is a pending UFA, in the final season of a six-year, $65,408,000 contract signed with the Maple Leafs back in 2019. His future has seen plenty of speculation and rumors, and the results in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs will certainly play a major factor in whether he stays in Toronto.

Mitch Marner hit the 70-assist mark on Saturday night

While he hasn’t hit 100 points just yet, Mitch Marner did notch a career-high in assists during Saturday’s 5-0 win over Columbus.

The 27-year-old set up his longtime linemate Auston Matthews’ third-period goal, which marked his 70th assist of the season. It’s the first time Marner has hit the milestone in his NHL career, previously racking up 69 assists during the 2022-23 campaign.

The only regular-season accolade alluding Mitch Marner now is triple-digit points. He’s come agonizingly close with season totals of 99, 97, and 94 points throughout his career. He’ll hope this will be the year it all comes to fruition.

Marner and the Maple Leafs’ focus is on getting two points in the standings on Tuesday night in Florida when they face the Panthers. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at Amerant Bank Arena.