Mitch Marner Bids Emotional Farewell to Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs

After nine years with the Maple Leafs organization, the Mitch Marner era comes to an end with his final moments in a Leafs jersey spent heartbroken on the bench while his hometown fans relentlessly boo'ed him on home ice.

The Leafs were able to successfully facilitate a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, receiving 6-foot-4 center Nicolas Roy in the deal -- not exactly an ideal return for Marner, but it's something, and Roy is a useful player in his own right.

With the completion of this deal, it appears highly unlikely that the Golden Knights will face tampering charges, despite some speculation that the Marner to Vegas plans were in the works since last year.

On Tuesday, ahead of free agency, Marner released the following message for fans on his personal Instagram account.

Marner should be considered one of the best Maple Leafs of all-time, but instead, he will largely be remembered for vanishing in the postseason, holding out in 2019, threatening to play in Europe, raking the Leafs' feet over the coals for every last dollar, and ultimately costing the Leafs Mikko Rantanen knowing full well that he was leaving anyway a few months later.

Hopefully, in time, Marner will be remembered a lot more fondly, but in the interim, we can probably expected the Markham, Ontario native to be treated to a chorus of boos when he comes back to Toronto.