Mitch Marner Reveals When He Knew He’d Test NHL Free Agency While Under Maple Leafs Contract

July 2, 2025 NHL Hockey News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games Leave a comment

Mitch Marner is a Vegas Golden Knight, officially unveiled on Tuesday in an introductory news conference with the Vegas local media.

While a majority of the 18-minute session revolved around his excitement and interest in joining the Golden Knights, the player did reflect on his time in Toronto.

After spending his first nine NHL seasons with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, Marner revealed the moment he'd come to realize that he intended on taking his contract all the way to free agency.

"Last year in Toronto or two years ago, really, we didn't win, obviously. We didn't do what we wanted to do. Stuff started kind of going a little north, a little south. We didn't know what was going to happen. A lot of trade rumors all last summer and didn't know what was going to happen in that regard either. As soon as the year started up, we were ready to commit and play hockey and see what would happen. But at the same time, we're willing to take it to the distance and kind of told Toronto that was our plan," Marner said. "And I was so grateful to play there for nine years. I said it at my end-of-the-year interview there that I took a risky pick on a small kid from Toronto who was forever grateful to be able to wear a Maple Leaf jersey and forever to be able to play in front of some of the greats that ever wore that jersey. But just now it's being a family man, a father, we thought our time was ready to look somewhere else and find a new home and find a new place to grow our family. And like I said, I'm so grateful to be here and so happy to be a part of this team."

Two years ago was before Marner was eligible for a contract extension. But when the Leafs were eliminated in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Marner was asked if he was concerned about being traded.

Although he dismissed the notion, the Leafs did have a window before his full no-movement clause was set to kick in July 1, 2023. The Leafs never exercised that option, but that could be the point where the relationship between the Leafs and Marner began to fracture.

Marner discussed other topics including Vegas' earlier interest in the player and cited the trade deadline as one of those moments that has been widely reported as deal between the Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes, along with Toronto.

Q: Mitch, welcome to Vegas, first of all. There were reports that you were probably looking at probably taking visits with other teams. What ultimately led to Vegas being the team you wanted to choose?

Marner: I mean, obviously, the winning regimen they've put up through the last five years of really since they've been in the league. Got such a competitive team every year, got such good players here. The living arrangements from talking to (Max) Pacioretty and Revo (Ryan Reaves) just through the last couple weeks. It seemed like everything was a pretty good fit for my wife and I and our new son. Yeah, the winning aspect of this team really helped and everything as well, and the great players they have here. So, lucky enough, it all worked out, and you know, this is where we wanted to be.

Q: Kelly (Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon) had just said that there's always pressure, there's always an expectation ever since his team's come into the league, right? There's been a winning culture, as you've seen. You come from a city and an organization where there's been pressure for decades. What's attractive most to the challenge of going from there to here and running right into this challenge with this roster, this locker room, this culture?

Marner: You want to be in a place where you want to win. That's the whole goal of why we do this. You want to hoist that Stanley Cup. This team has shown that they can do it. I'm lucky enough to now hopefully bring another piece in to help bring it back here. I think we put the most pressure on ourselves as hockey players. That's how we play the game. We want to win every single night, you want to win every battle, you want to win anything you can. All the time. You know, like I said before, this team has, since it's entered the league, really pushed to push the boundaries and be that winning team. Yeah, that's where I want to be. I want to be in a winning situation. I've been lucky enough that I've been on some very good teams that just, you know, haven't. But yeah, I've been very lucky to be with some very good teams and very good players. unfortunately enough, we just didn't we weren't able to get over the hump, and that sucks a lot, to be honest. But you got to look past things. We've got a new great opportunity here with an unbelievable team like I've spoken about the last couple of minutes. We're very fortunate and lucky enough to be here.

'My Favorite Player Growing Up Was Mats Sundin' Nicolas Roy Reacts To Be Traded To Maple Leafs In Mitch Marner DealNic Roy was on a trip with family and friends when he found out that he was being traded from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Q: Your thoughts on Vegas as a city, experiences that you've had being here in Vegas and playing against The Knights and T-Mobile arena.

Marner: I mean, playing in this arena-wise, it's all time. It's crazy. It really is. Just the vibe you get as soon as you walk into the arena to warm ups to the starting of the game. You know, we as athletes never really get to see the start of a hockey game of like how they kind of get the fans into it and how they bring the fans off their feet. Off the seat, onto their feet, get going. My parents, lucky enough, got to see it the last couple of years we've come here. It's a pretty good destination spot for to come watch a hockey game. Just seeing the videos from their phones, seeing the love that the fans give when you come out on that ice, it's pretty special. So the city itself, obviously everyone just thinks of it as the strip and there's so much more to it. Like I said, I got lucky enough to talk to Revo and Pacioretty quite a bit just about everything off the strip, living wise, the schooling wise. Just how tight knit the communities are, the privacy-wise in that aspect too. So yeah, a lot of things just checked our box. My wife and I like to go out and enjoy ourselves and have nice dinners and stuff like that. And we can still do that going down to the strip, or you can do that in the Summerlin area. And that's something that really dragged our attention.

Q: You got a chance to play for Bruce Cassidy at Four Nations. Could you talk about what that relationship was like? What it'll be like in your mind going forward, playing for him full time as a head coach?

Marner: Well, before that, obviously, I played against him a lot, being Toronto, Boston, Rivalry thing. Played a couple playoff series against them. He's always been a high-end coach. Getting to know him very personally-wise at the Four Nations was awesome. You know, just his help with the power play throughout that tournament was amazing. With his power play that was going on here the whole year, how deadly they were really all year, first in the NHL, which is very impressive. And he's just a very down to earth guy, talks very calmly, listens to your points, listens to what you got to say too. That's the conversations you want to have with your coach. You want to be able to express yourself and let him express hisself and find where you can help each other out in great areas. So yeah, looking forward to playing under him. And it's been great success before.

'Leaving Isn't Easy': Mitch Marner Pens Goodbye Message To Maple Leafs Fans After Joining Golden KnightsMitch Marner has officially departed the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Q: You don't hit free agency often as a hockey player. What were the conversations like between you and your agent? To turn down that opportunity to sign this deal ultimately?

Marner: Yeah, it was a wild one. It was unexpected in a way. You know, we didn't know what was really going to happen. I expressed to my agent that we had a couple of teams that we really liked and really wanted to look forward to meeting with and talking with. And I thought through just speculation, stuff might really start falling around Draft night. I think that's when stuff kind of happens, especially with sign-and-trade stuff. So we were kind of just hanging out at home, not knowing really what was going to happen, with a bit of speculation, maybe something might happen eventually. And then, yeah, I don know, my agent called. You know, we kind of got the word on Friday night that something might be going down with Vegas in Toronto and how that feels to my wife and I. Like I said, this was a spot that was very high on my list, and we wanted to come here and kind of went back to my agent and said, you know, I'm open to doing this if we can find a way to do it. A couple of hours later, Kelly called me and said that we got a deal going on. So I was very happy. Very fortunate. I don't know, we thought about going to free agency, but this is the place we want to be. We didn't want to lose that opportunity, and we wanted to join this hockey team.

Q: Kelly had said that they've kind of been interested in you for a while, that there was potentially something around the trade deadline 3-team deal. I don't know exactly what it was. When was the first time it actually got on your radar that it was possible that you were going to come here? And when's the first time you actually had real discussions with anyone, family, anyone around you that's like. Should we go to Vegas?

Marner: That really kind of hit trade deadline day. I think it was the day. The day prior we got offered a trade to go somewhere else. My wife was seven or eight months pregnant at the time. We weren't really going to go anywhere that was going to be a short stint. If we were going somewhere we were going to sign for an extension. Raise our child there and grow up there. Then we kind of heard that Vegas might be interested in a three-way deal. From what it sounded like not much really sort of happened going forward process wise between the three teams. But that was when we really started talking saying well it sounds like Vegas has interest in us, we have interest in them. That's when we kind of started sitting there thinking of it in a way but not overthinking it. At that time I was still very committed to playing Toronto hockey and I just wanted to focus on being there and finishing a job there. So I say really when the season ended, I sat down with my whole family, our agent. Kind of went through the discussions of what stuff could look like, how we can figure this out. And lucky enough Vegas came with the deal on Friday. And like we said this was our first destination we'd like to go to and it worked out very well.

Former Maple Leafs Star Mitch Marner To Wear No. 93 With Golden KnightsThe Toronto Maple Leafs made their trade of Mitch Marner official on Tuesday morning.

Q: Just curious, I'm sure it's been a wild little bit for you. You talked about talking to Revo. And Max, about what about the current guys on the roster? How many have reached out or and the relationships you've had, whether it Team Canada or just growing up through your years?

Marner: Stoney (Mark Stone) reached out to me Saturday morning, I want to say it was, Friday night, Saturday morning. And then Jack (Eichel) texted me, I think it was Saturday morning. And then a couple of other guys just kind of texted me throughout the last couple of days. You know, got thrown in the group chat today, just kind of said hello to everyone and saw if anyone was really around town here. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I mean, we're just trying to find out living style now, living wise, where we're going to try to find our home and stay for the eight years. Yeah, it's been great. They've been welcoming us with open arms. The wives have been xtremely helpful to my wife, and we're extremely grateful for that. Um yeah, it's a team that has a lot of star power. Getting to meet (Shea)Theodore (Adin) Hill and Stoney this year at the Four Nations was awesome as well. It just kind of, not just for myself, my wife's side of things, just talking to them about the living style and everything like that as well. And for my side of things, it wasn't too much real talk about coming to Vegas at that time. It was more so just trying to win a gold at the Four Nations with those guys and just playing beside them, getting to know them very well. They were very committed, hardworking guys that whatever they got put in front of that they needed to win, they just did what they had to do. That was pretty eye-opening and special.

Q: Mitch, a lot of the guys that have been here well, the three guys have been here for the whole time, and then other guys that we've seen start families here. They've all commented on how It's different. The mindset changes. You go from being a superstar hockey player to a family man, and all of a sudden your priorities change. You talked about the community, talking to Revo and Max, and how that became important. Can you just talk about the progression of being a young superstar in Toronto, growing into your career.And now, how the priorities have changed to also including being a family man and a brand new father.

Marner: Yeah, it's been eye-opening in a way, to be honest. It's been really special being there for my son's birth and, you know, just seeing how strong and amazing a woman's body and my wife was in that moment. It was tough to explain. I mean, if you have a child, I think you know, it's tough to explain that kind of moment. But quickly things change. I mean, we were going into the second round, I believe, right before we had Miles. Hockey's such a priority in all of our minds. But as soon as I kind of got home from the rink immediately after games or anything like that, You know, I was trying to figure out how I can help my wife with my son, and try to, you know, regardless, staying up late some nights, trying to take care of him, or trying to help my wife just get a couple hours of sleep between times of feeding. Yeah, it really changes your mind quickly. And I was fortunate enough to have a lot of guys in Toronto that had children that gave me the rundown multiple weeks beforehand. But as a kid, I guess in a way, or as a person, you just sometimes think, oh, it's not you know, it'll be different or something, and then it happens, and you're thankful for the lessons that other people taught you throughout the way. But your mind definitely changes to being a family man than just a hockey player.

Report: Maple Leafs Trade Mitch Marner To Vegas Golden Knights, Agrees To Eight-Year Deal Worth $12 Million AAVMitch Marner is on his way to Las Vegas.

Q: You know, many hockey fans' reaction when they first saw the news was Mitch Marner's going to get to play with Jack Eichel I know you played on Team Canada. He was on USA, but what do you admire about his game and how do you think you guys could really pair on the ice?

Marner: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. That's obviously an exceptional player. A guy that really moves well up and down the ice, you know, both ends of his ice, very responsible. At the same time, he's got a deadly shot with his vision and playmaking style as well. I'm very excited to start working with him and try to figure out the chemistry quickly and get that rolling. I've talked to a couple of guys that have been his teammates that have said just unbelievable things about him as a human. So I'm very looking forward. I'm very much looking forward to being in the locker room with him, starting to learn just tendencies of where he likes to be on the ice, where I like to on the ice, how we can work it best and try to figure out ways to score some hockey goals and win some hockey games.

Q: Being able to go back to wearing 93, maybe the significance of that number and how excited you'd be able to put back on ninety three after all those years in 16.

Marner: Yeah, I'm very excited about it. The first actually kind of time I saw it on someone was on my son. So me and my wife and our hotel room put it on him. And you know, it was just a really special moment. It's a jersey that I wore with the London Knights for the three years there and had great success with it and really enjoyed the number. And my dad was a Dougie Gilmour fan growing up, and then I, luckily enough, got to watch some great highlight clips of him and, you know. He was a little guy at the time and was just a little buzzsaw out there that really kind of annoyed people out there. And from that moment on, I wanted to wear 93, and obviously that number is retired in Toronto for great reasons. As soon as I came back to a new team, I was talking to Kelly on Friday night or I think yeah, Friday night I think it was and he kind of gave me the call of what number I want to wear. Said 93, and I think he had a pretty good understanding of me going back there before I even said it. So I'm very happy to be back going to it, and yeah, hopefully, it brings great success.

Q: Well, Mitch, I guess it's full circle since this is the second team you've been on that are the Knights How has that kind of felt like destiny for you almost to be in the seat you're in right now?

Marner: Yeah, it's a full circle moment for sure. Yeah, it's a really cool feeling to, you know, obviously it the Vegas Golden Nights, but to be called a night again, something that I took with great passion when I was in London. It's something I take great passion with being here in Vegas. And yeah, very much looking forward to the start of the season and getting going here and getting around the guys and just really finding our way to how we can help this team win hockey games.

(Photo Credit: Vegas Golden Knights on X)