NHL News: Mitch Marner takes slight jab at Auston Matthews' Maple Leafs shortly after joining Golden Knights

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner witnessed their ten-year relationship come to an end in heartbreaking fashion. Now, as both sides hope to move on to better chapters in the NHL, the 28-year-old winger rubbed salt in the wounds with a sincere, yet stinging admission for Auston Matthews and the rest of the team listening back in The Six.

Marner has seemingly molded in perfectly to Las Vegas’ idiosyncrasy. It took less than a day in Sin City for the former Maple Leaf to drop a bold admission about his new team, which hintingly poked at his ex-club.

Marner may no longer play for the Maple Leafs, but the two parties will remain intertwined—at least for the foreseeable future in the NHL. As such, every single quote from the winger will echo through every street and alley of Toronto. As Matthews and the Leafs hope to fill the void left by Marner’s drama-filled exit, the latter is already making himself at home at the Las Vegas Strip.

Upon arrival in Nevada, Marner voiced a harsh confession about what drove him to the Golden Knights, and his answer may have hidden a jab at the Maple Leafs.

Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes a breather against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on April 12, 2025.

Marner’s statement

“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 they can do it,” Mitch Marner admitted during his introductory press conference with Vegas.

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“Since it entered the league, this team has really pushed the boundaries and become a winning team. That’s where I want to be, I want to be in a winning situation. I’ve been lucky enough to be in some very good teams and with very good players. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get over the hump. That sucks a lot, to be honest. But you’ve got to look past things.”

Saying goodbye

While Marner’s statement might throw some shade at the Maple Leafs, he made it clear he wished things had turned out differently. It wasn’t the ending he wanted now—certainly not the one his younger self, who once dreamed of playing for his hometown franchise, would’ve envisioned. Still, this is how the cards played out.

“I think my whole mindset all the time I was in Toronto was that it was going to be really tough to leave it, to be honest,” Marner said. “I didn’t ever think that day might come.”