Maple Leafs Still Feeling the Pain of Mitch Marner Decision

After nine seasons with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, Mitch Marner had had enough. The 29-year-old right winger decided that he was leaving Toronto, the team that drafted him fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and he chose the Vegas Golden Knights as his destination of choice.

All the years of losing in Toronto took a toll on Marner, as did a certain group of the Maple Leafs' fanbase harassing him and his family at his home. He wanted out, and he made sure to let the Maple Leafs know that he was leaving.

With Marner's mind all but made up, former Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving was forced to let Marner go for nothing in unrestricted free agency or work out a trade with Vegas to at least get an asset in return.

Treliving chose the former option, sending Marner to Vegas in exchange for depth center Nicolas Roy as part of a sign-and-trade deal. That meant that Vegas could get Marner on an eight-year contract, not seven years, dropping his salary cap AAV to $12 million as part of his eight-year, $96 million deal.

It's safe to say the first year of that contract has worked out splendidly for Marner and the Golden Knights, who are on the verge of winning the franchise's second Stanley Cup.

Mitch Marner Thriving in Vegas

On June 6, the Golden Knights defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in a double OT thriller in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals.

Related: Coach Explains Brett Howden's Breakout in Stanley Cup Finals

Marner played a massive part in the victory, as he scored a natural hat trick in the second period and added an assist, with his four points helping lift the Golden Knights to a crucial victory over Carolina. Game 4 takes place on June 9, also in Vegas.

It's fair to say Marner has been otherworldly for Vegas during this year's postseason.

He currently leads all skaters in playoff points with 28, eight higher than second-place Jack Eichel, and his 10 goals are second only to teammate Brett Howden, who is also having a terrific playoff run.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Marner is a -200 favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, far and away the best odds of any player to win the award.

All the potential that Marner had for all of these years has finally been unlocked in Vegas. He is simply thriving with his new franchise, and it's making his old team, the Maple Leafs, look foolish for not pushing harder to keep him.

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Maple Leafs Look Like Fools for Letting Mitch Marner Go

At the 2024-25 NHL trade deadline, Treliving asked Marner if he would waive his no-movement clause to facilitate a trade to the Hurricanes in exchange for Mikko Rantanen.

Marner chose to decline the offer, as his wife was about to bear the couple's first child. With him becoming a father for the first time, he did not want to leave Toronto and leave his wife by herself, which was understandable.

The Maple Leafs then made a serious playoff push with Marner as part of the team, but they ultimately lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games in the second round of the postseason. Game 7 of that series would turn out to be Marner's last game in the blue and white.

It was obvious there was a rift between the player and team that could not be fixed, especially after Treliving asked Marner to waive his NMC and go to Carolina. That was essentially the last straw for Marner, as were the fans showing up at his Toronto-area home and harassing him and his family after his address was leaked online.

Marner had had enough, and he made it clear to Toronto that he was leaving. The Leafs were left with no choice but to make a trade with Vegas and get Roy back. Even though Roy doesn't hold a candle to Marner as a hockey player, it was better than losing him for nothing.

Without Marner on the team, the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade this year. Treliving was fired, as was former head coach Craig Berube, and Roy, the player the team got from Vegas, was traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the 2025-26 trade deadline for a first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft.

That future first-round pick, akin to magic beans, is all that Toronto has left to show for Marner now.

Vegas, meanwhile, has a true superstar on their roster who is giving his team every chance they have to win the Stanley Cup.

And he's making the Leafs look like absolute fools for letting him go in the process.

Related: Villainous Golden Knights Strike First in Stanley Cup Finals

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This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 9:04 AM.