The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the mix with the Atlantic Division, as they have a record of 23-16-7 and could find themselves near the top with just a few wins. First, they're going to have to put their last lost behind them, and focus on the Vegas Golden Knights. They'll also be meeting up with a former teammate, as Mitch Marner is now a Golden Knight.
Before the matchup, Auston Mattews spoke about matching up against Marner for the first time this season.
“We definitely keep in touch a pretty decent amount… he’s always going to be a really close friend, he’s a great person… it’s gonna be fun playing against him,” Matthews said via Anna Dua of Sportsnet.
The Maple Leafs traded Marner to the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade deal. Marner signed a eight-year, $96 million contract extension with the team to become their highest-paid player.
Marner was the fourth overall pick in 2015, and Matthews was the first overall pick in 2016, so they basically have been with each other their entire career.
The Maple Leafs wanted to sign Marner, but he decided that it was time to move on.
“We just decided it was time for a new chapter,” Marner said via Mark Masters of TSN. “We loved being in Toronto full time and being close to family and friends, but we just thought it was time for a new chapter in life, and having Miles, our son, we wanted to look at other options and see what was out there. We found one we really liked.”
Now, Marner will be going up against his former team, and it looks like there is still a lot of love on both sides.
