The Mitch Marner era in 色色啦 is over.
The local kid who dreamed of playing for the Maple Leafs team that drafted him fourth overall in 2015, the skilled winger who played nine seasons and ended up fifth in franchise history in points, is now a Vegas Golden Knight.
Marner’s relationship with the Leafs ended when he signed an eight-year, $96-million (U.S.) deal with the Leafs, who agreed to trade him to Vegas, according to multiple reports.
The Golden Knights had some salary-cap issues to deal with before the trade could be made official that included an announcement by defenceman Alex Pietrangelo that he聽would miss next season for health reasons, freeing cap space.聽
The Leafs, meanwhile, might have received nothing in return had Marner waited until noon Tuesday. As it worked out, they get six-foot-four Nicolas Roy, a solid skater and checker who could be the answer at third-line centre.
鈥淗e’s an incredible teammate,鈥 Leafs winger Steven Lorentz said of Marner. “He’s the ultimate competitor, and聽an even better guy off the ice. So I’m happy for Mitch ... He’s got a long, bright, successful career ahead of him.鈥
Lorentz, meanwhile, signed a three-year extension that will pay the hard-nosed winger $1.35 million a year.
鈥淭here was no doubt in my mind that I knew I’d be back in 色色啦 again,鈥 said Lorentz. 鈥淚t definitely has been a process, and maybe it went a little longer than I had hoped, but in my heart I knew I wanted to come back. I didn’t want to go anywhere else, and I’m just so proud and happy to be able to get it done. And I’m already looking forward to next year.鈥
It turned into a busy day for Leafs general manager Brad Treliving. The Leafs also traded a conditional third-round draft pick to Utah for 24-year-old winger Matias Maccelli, a Finn with a creative touch. He set a career high with 40 assists two seasons ago.
鈥淗e’s definitely got some offensive instincts and he can move the puck and pass the puck as good as some of the top players in the league,鈥 Lorentz said of Maccelli.
But neither Maccelli nor Roy could be compared to Marner, who was a fan favourite for his playmaking ability, a player eager to give back to the community through his charitable foundation.
鈥淚 want to be someone that everybody puts responsibilities on,鈥 he told the Star the night he was drafted. 鈥淧ressure to do well, that’s what I want to be.鈥
He called 色色啦 a great place to play.
鈥淚 can’t wait to get started,鈥 he added at the time. 鈥淔ans there blow me away.鈥
That pressure to do well seemed to get the better of him as he wanted out of hockey’s biggest market. And many fans seemed happy to see him leave because the Leafs have been unable to turn regular-season success into playoff success.
He couldn’t have predicted then what would happen as he grew up before our eyes. Marner’s enthusiasm for the game never waned as he went from hotshot rookie to newlywed to new dad and Team Canada stalwart over the course of nine seasons.
Marner sits fifth all-time in points by a Leaf with 741. Only Mats Sundin (987), Darryl Sittler (916), Dave Keon (858) and B枚rje Salming (768) had more. And Marner did it in just 657 games.
Always the playmaker, Marner ranks fourth in assists by a Leaf at 520, behind Salming (620), Sundin (567) and Sittler (527). He’s 14th in goals (221).
With Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander rookies in the same season, the future seemed bright when the Leafs made the playoffs in 2017. That started a run of nine straight post-season appearances. It was part of the allure for Islanders free-agent John Tavares to join the Leafs and form the Core Four.
色色啦 wasn’t always kind to Marner, who seemed to take the brunt of social media barbs whenever the team exited the post-season.
As a rookie, asked him to rank teammates by effort. He did as instructed, putting himself last. Babcock then shared that information with the team, apparently trying to embarrass Marner. The coach later apologized.
Marner also had his car stolen at gunpoint on May 16, 2021 when he and now-wife Stephanie tried to go to the movies.
In Vegas, Marner will join a team that is loaded with talent including Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, but Marner will be their highest-paid player and expected to help lead them to the Stanley Cup. They won it in 2023.
Treliving’s day also included news involving the Leafs’ restricted free agents. Most surprising, they did not make forward Pontus Holmberg a qualifying offer, meaning he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. Holmberg had arbitration rights, which might have meant he’d win a contract richer than the Leafs want to pay. The sides were still talking.
The RFAs who did get offers were Nicholas Robertson, Dennis Hildeby, Roni Hirvonen, Topi Niemel盲 and William Villeneuve. Hirvonen and Niemel盲 will play in Europe next season. The qualifying offer means the Leafs retain their NHL rights.
They also made forward Matthew Knies a qualifying offer because the six-year, $46.5-million deal he agreed to Sunday had not yet been officially announced.
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