Latest News on Mitch Marner is Sure to Tick Off Maple Leafs Fans in a Big Way

The date has been set for Mitch Marner's return to Toronto for the first time since leaving the Maple Leafs to become a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The NHL has officially confirmed the date of January 23, 2026 for Marner's first game in Toronto as a member of Vegas, which will likely include a very negative response from the Maple Leafs faithful in attendance.

What it won't include, apparently, is any questions from the Toronto media for the former hometown favourite.

Per Dave McCarthy of NHL.com, Vegas takes on the Boston Bruins the night before the game in Toronto, which means no morning availability with players from the Golden Knights. McCarthy adds that potentially means no media availability for Marner at all.

If Maple Leafs fans didn't have a bitter taste in their mouths over the way Marner left before this, ducking members of the Toronto media should do the trick. If the 28 year old wanted to try and mend the relationship with Leafs fans, avoiding questions from media certainly isn't the way to do it.

TSN 'OverDrive' host Bryan Hayes and Leafs reporter Jonas Siegel recently called out the team for what they called the mishandling of the Marner situation. That may or may not be the case, but it sure looks like Marner had one foot out the door for at least a few months, if not longer and refuses to be held accountable for his decision to leave the Leafs with the absolute bare minimum on the way out.