Greg Wyshynskijul 1, 2025, 09:09 PM ET
Closegreg Wyshynski is a senior NHL writer at ESPN.
Mitch Marner spent nine seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, trying to bring the Stanley Cup back to the city for the first time since 1967. His place has changed as the newest member of the Vegas Golden Knights, which landed the most coveted player in the NHL free agency this week, but his goals are the same.
“You want to be in a place where you can win. That’s the overall goal for why we do this. You want to wind up the Stanley Cup. This team has shown that they can do it. I’m lucky enough to help you come back here,” Marner said of the Golden Knights, who won the Cup for the first time in 2023.
Marner, 28, came to Vegas on a sign-and-trade with the Maple Leafs before the NHL free agency began on July 1st. The Golden Knights sent Nicolas Roy to Toronto. The contract has a CAP hit of $12 million a year, making it the best on the team right now.
The trade ended Marner’s turbulent tenure in Toronto. He was drafted fourth in 2015 and became a young player on the Leafs’ cornerstone along with center Orton Matthews. With his charismatic personality and a great two-way game, Marner quickly became a fan favorite. He is the fifth time in franchise history with 741 points and fifth in 657 regular season games with 221 goals and 520 assists.
“Mitch is going to go down as one of the great leaves, and the statistics prove that,” Toronto general manager Brad Trelelibing said Tuesday.
However, the public’s feelings slowly began to turn to Marner in Toronto. The difficult contract negotiations ended with him signing a 10.893 million cap hit and a six-year contract. Marner was criticized for the Leafs’ lack of playoff success as Toronto failed to advance past the second round during his time with the franchise. The points per game in the postseason (0.90) were clearly lower than in the regular season (1.13).
“We didn’t win. Clearly, we didn’t do what we wanted to do,” Marner said of the Maple Leafs. “They made a dangerous pick on a little child in Toronto, which was forever grateful to have been able to wear maple leaf jerseys. But now we are a family man and father, so we were ready to see other places and find a new place to raise our family.”
Marner said he first began considering Vegas at the NHL trade deadline. The Leafs came to him with a trade proposal to play for another team that is widely reported as a Carolina hurricane.
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“My wife was seven or eight months pregnant at the time, but I wasn’t planning on going anywhere that could possibly be a short stint.
Treliving admitted that Maple Leafs tried to move Marner.
“In the end, the players have options. We certainly approached Mitch to engage in a contract. Mitch and his representative wanted to wait until his year was over. It became clear that the possibility might not be there. As we were negotiated, Mitch has a complete non-transfer clause, so he took control of the process,” he said.
Marner heard that Vegas was closing down and was trying to collect deals for him. It didn’t happen, but planted seeds that it might be his next NHL destination. He had teammates with former Golden Knights Ryan Reeves and Max Pacioretti who spoke about life in Vegas.
Marner sat down with his family and agents after the Leafs season ended and discussing options as a free agent. There were other teams he was interested in, but Marner got the word last Friday that Vegas and Toronto were discussing trade for his rights.
“We thought about going to a free agency, but this is where we want to be. We didn’t want to lose that opportunity. We would like to join this hockey team,” he said.
The Golden Knights traded Roy for Toronto and Marner was a point of the plot. SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the podcast that the NHL was saying, “The Maple Leafs would “take Vegas for tampering” if they signed with the Order. “If they sign a contract with Toronto and send a good player to Toronto, I’m sure the Maple Leafs file for tampering could disappear,” Friedman said.
Treliving refused to discuss the possible tampering of the claim. “I’m not going to comment on any of the reports,” he said.
Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimon was not asked about tampering with the allegations, but at his press conference he highlighted exactly why the Golden Knights traded with Toronto on multiple occasions.
“We wanted to sign and trade with Toronto so that we could enter our eighth year on a contract. The only team we can give players an eighth year is the team he has,” McCrimmon said. “For us, the eighth year really helped us in terms of what the AAV would be for his contract. If it’s a seven-year contract, if it’s a $96 million, then there’s a $13.7 million AAV. This really affects our ability to bring players to the team.”
He also said that the Golden Knights wanted to move ahead of the July 1 free agency period by securing Marner early. “We wanted to eliminate the other teams. We wanted to be able to have a one-on-one relationship with his representative in terms of trying to get a contract. That’s how the deal was put together,” he said.
McCrimon also said the trade debate at the deadline was “started by Toronto.”
Vegas general managers hit some of the trade reports, particularly Marner, who is seeking a more short-term deal, and that players such as Vegas Center could be traded to make Marner’s space.
“It wasn’t true. It wasn’t true. It’s on a long list of things that absolutely last month had. [no] Reliability. To be honest, it’s embarrassing that I have a William Carlson phone. You are not for trade. Thomas, relax, you are not for trade. “That’s ridiculous,” Macrimon said. “We wanted to have an eighth year, so we made a deal. They wanted to have an eighth year.”
But Marner ended up in Vegas. The truth is, the Golden Knights have just landed the biggest award in the NHL free agency. A player who can score 100 points, one of the best defensive forwards in the league, and motivates him to ultimately win the championship in his family’s new home.
“I was very fortunate to be with a very good team and a very good player. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the hump and it allowed us to smoke a lot,” he said. “But you have to see what’s been going on. With an incredible team, there’s a great new opportunity here.”
