Ex-Leafs Winger Mitch Marner Confirms New Linemates in Vegas

With the dust having finally settled on Mitch Marner leaving the Maple Leafs and becoming the newest member of the Vegas Golden Knights, both sides are ready to move on and embrace what's next.

For the Leafs and captain Auston Matthews, the questions about Mitch Marner are becoming somewhat of an annoyance and a distraction, with Matthews having recently told the media that there is a deadline in effect for when he'll stop entertaining the questions about his former linemate.

For Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights, it's the start of a new era -- and for Marner in specific, a time to become familiar with his new linemates ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Marner was recently interviewed by the media in Vegas during training camp, and revealed who he'd be playing with to kick off his tenure in Sin City. He confirmed that Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev will be his new running mates.

Marner also touched briefly on his new life in Vegas, how his family is adjusting and how it's been a nice change of pace to wake up looking at the mountains, feeling the heat and being in the sun.

While his tenure in Toronto didn't end the way he anyone expected, Marner appears to be at peace with the idea of transitioning into life with a little more anonymity, and in a lot less of a volatile market than the one he was accustomed to back home in Ontario.

As for his new teammates, like Marner, Eichel is largely a playmaker, so their ability to give and go will be fun to watch. Eichel does shoot the puck a little more frequently than Marner does, but doesn't score at as high of a rate based on his shot volume.

Meanwhile, Barbashev doesn't necessarily rack up a ton of shots on goal (much less than both Marner and Eichel), but he does typically carry a much higher scoring percentage (17.7) over his career than both Marner (13.3) and Eichel (10.9). So, I think we know who the main trigger man is going to be.

It's anyone's guess how this line performs early on this season as they begin to build chemistry together, but with that much star power on one line, it's certainly possible that all 3 players enjoy career years in 2025-26.