Mitch Marner trade leaves Maple Leafs dream with bitter aftertaste

TORONTO — Mitch Marner should have ended his days as a Toronto Maple Leaf on Legends Row.

Instead, he’s leaving for the Strip — with totally useful but ultimately underwhelming third-line forward Nicolas Roy the only return for an exhilarating, infuriating asset.

Given the timeline (mere hours before Marner’s unrestricted free agency) and restrictions (an inherited full no-move clause, which was exercised at least once by the player when he still had real value), GM Brad Treliving did well to salvage anything at all on June 30’s sign-and-trade that officially ends the Core Four era.

And the Vegas Golden Knights keep Marner’s cap hit to a reasonable $12 million with the aid of an eighth year of term they otherwise would not be able to offer.

(Funny, Marner’s $96-million pay day mirrors that of proposed trade partner Mikko Rantanen. They will share the title of NHL’s highest-paid winger starting next season.)

The Golden Knights weren’t quite a twinkle in Gary Bettman’s eye that night in 2015 when Toronto prioritized high-end skill and drafted that Knights star out of London — over new Vegas teammate Noah Hanifin, no less.

An undersized kid blessed with hands as slick and deceptive as Fremont Street magicians. A slippery, creative skater who sees a hockey rink the way Nyjah Huston sees a downtown staircase — a playground, a canvas for splashing brilliant, unexpected colours.

After an extra winter to gain confidence and lead those first Knights to a Memorial Cup, Marner graduated to the Show. He swapped his No. 93 for No. 16, but no one could’ve convinced Leafs Nation that Marner, too, didn’t have all the attributes to go down as an all-time fan favourite like Dougie.

Marner played with his food in nine regular seasons for his boyhood team, routinely ripping off multi-game point streaks, leaving with three apples on nights he wasn’t the star and going off for two-and-two when he was feeling frisky.

He’d strip opponents on the backcheck, then kill penalty minutes with circle-backs a coach would advise anyone else against.

We saw Marner kick pucks to his own stick and onto teammates’ tape with such regularity, we began yawning at the extraordinary. If the need arose, he’d header passes on purpose.

Who else makes a drop pass on a breakaway and makes it look like the best decision?

Marner’s vision helped his first centreman — John Tavares, the man then-GM Kyle Dubas recruited to Toronto using a Marner sizzle reel — explode for a 47-goal, 88-point campaign that stands as Tavares’s best.

And once he got paired with Auston Matthews, the latter ignited for three Rocket Richard trophies and a Hart. Each became All-Star regulars; both took a turn as a Selke finalist.

Firmly in his prime at age 28, Marner leaves the 108-year-old franchise ranked fourth all-time in assists (520) and fifth all-time in points (741). Anyone ahead of him on those Leafs list has a banner in the rafters and a plaque in the Hall. Ol’ pass-first Marner even ranks 14th all-time among Leafs goal scorers (221).

“There’s no comparable to him in the league. Just to be that smart and have your head up and see where everyone is on the ice at all times — yeah, a lot of top players can play like that. But he’s on a whole other level,” says Max Pacioretty, once a Golden Knight himself.

Pacioretty chuckles at the idea of trying to learn from his former Maple Leafs teammate.

“It’s really hard to replicate because his anticipation is what’s so amazing,” the veteran says. “Normally, when guys are trying to anticipate a pass or try to leave for a breakaway, it’s cheating. But when he does it, it’s not. Because he’s just so good at reading the play and knowing where the puck is going to be. And I just don’t think you can teach that.”

Imagine teaching someone who didn’t live through the Marner Years in Toronto why — how?! — the hope and promise and otherworldly highlights devolved into a mess of bitter regret, nearly two handfuls of missed opportunities, and an at-least-we-got-something trade.

So long has been Marner’s need for a change of scenery and the fan base’s need for a change of whipping boy that, by the time Marner’s new contract ends, we’ll all need a good, hard think to remember which came first:

The mean tweets or the just-here-so-I-won’t-get-fined press availabilities?

The puck over the glass or the emotional outbursts on the bench?

Brad Treliving going out of his way to protect Marner’s perception, Kyle Dubas going out of his way to protect Marner’s paycheques, or Brendan Shanahan going out of his way to protect both?

What will be remembered — and what Marner still has a chance to change, albeit in sparkling gold — is the cavern between regular-season effectiveness and playoff results.

That in games 5, 6, 7 of playoff series — crunch time, when the city and the franchise and the legacy needed him most — Marner scored no goals and registered just seven assists in 20 games.

That when the moment grew, the Core shrank.

And that Marner was the one who just happened to be due the next big raise when ownership had finally decided to take a beat and look up Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity. Or maybe it was Marner, the leverage holder, who came to his senses first.

The NHL hasn’t released its 2025-26 schedule yet, but when it does, circle the Golden Knights’ lone trip to Scotiabank Arena.

The reaction Marner receives that night — and how the boy from Toronto himself receives the city’s reaction — will be loud and complicated and spilling with emotion.

And something should be nagging at everyone in the barn that night: It didn’t have to end this way, did it?

Vince Carter left this city under a cloud in 2004. Twenty years later, in 2024, Carter was feted, jersey lifted all the way up. To steal a Marner quote, he was treated kinda like a god in this town.

Some forgave the prodigal son fully. Some enough to move on and acknowledge greatness, all those dazzling plays for the home team under the bright downtown lights. Others held onto their bitterness like a grudge or an unpaid Schedule B bonus.

Maybe Marner, who was so viciously booed during his last shift as a Leaf, will one day get more love from Toronto. Maybe time will do its thing and heal.

Until then, the act will be alive and well in Vegas.

“If he wasn’t a great player, there wouldn’t be as much noise,” Pacioretty said. “What I certainly didn’t realize when I came here was how much he cares about play all over the ice. He’s a two-way player, and oftentimes that’s unfortunate because you’re only judged on one thing… winning.

“Teams are always dreaming of having a Mitch Marner on their roster.”

How did it all end in such a shambolic nightmare?