Mitch Marner Appears to Fires Shots at Maple Leafs During His First Press Conference in Vegas

The biggest question this off-season was what would happen with Mitch Marner and where he would end up ahead of July's free agent frenzy.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were lucky enough to be able to trade him at the 11th hour. However, it certainly left a bad taste in the mouths of many Leafs fans.

In the end, the Leafs executed a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, where they acquired Nicolas Roy in exchange for Marner signing an 8-year deal worth $96 million.

It was always destined in the stars that he was going to be a Golden Knight and based on his comments at his introductory press conference, the feeling was mutual.

Marner started off by saying that this is where he wanted to be primarily because of their winning culture and how they've cultivated that feeling since their inception, which could definitely be seen as a shot towards his former team and their inability to win when it matters.

Of course, it is well documented that the Maple Leafs were unable to win or generate any level of success during the post-season in Marner's 9 years with the club. However, as one of the leaders of the team, both offensively and in the locker room, Marner was as much to blame as anyone.

Now, Marner will have the ability to join a team that has consistently made the playoffs and gone deep. In their 7 years of existence, the Knights have made the playoffs 6 times, gone to the Finals twice, and won it all in 2023.

Marner will also be joining a roster loaded with talent at all positions, with Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Tomas Hertl headlining a stacked forward group.