A) They were the best AHL team through the regular season and won a franchise-first Calder Cup Championship.
B) They graduated seven players to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Quite frankly, if the bulk of championship winning roster had started the season back with the Marlies, the organization isn’t doing its job correctly.
With that in mind, we should not have been surprised by the Marlies early struggles knowing they had a roster that was deprived of those who moved on to the NHL and comprised of new players finding their fit.