The Toronto Maple Leafs always have a buzz around them. Whether they are a perennial playoff contender or a lottery hopeful, people are talking about the Leafs. And for the past year, the conversation has centered around one Ontario native: Mitch Marner. But when Maple Leafs CEO Keith Pelley was asked about Mitch Marner this time, he proved that he is done answering questions about the newest Vegas Golden Knight.
“I guess the story has to be over sometime soon in terms of people asking questions about Mitch,” Pelley said, per The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. “Mitch is a prolific scorer. He was a great Toronto Maple Leaf player for so many years. We didn’t win the Cup. We move on. And every change provides a great opportunity. So we wish Mitch all the best in Las Vegas. There’s still lots of conversation about Mitch with the media and potentially with some fans, but there’s no conversation about Mitch inside the Toronto Maple Leafs locker room or inside the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.”
Marner was drafted fourth overall by his hometown team and put together some dominant regular seasons. But his playoff struggles caught the fans' ire, leading to his departure. The Golden Knights traded for Marner and gave him a massive contract to try and fix the playoff issues in Vegas.
Pelley believes that the Maple Leafs can still build a contender without Marner moving forward. “I think the combination of the cap going up at the exact time. There’s no question we didn’t have as much cap room last year at the playoff (trade) deadline, that perhaps we needed to make a move that might have even taken us further. But we’re really conscious of cap room. We definitely have flexibility. And it’s go time now for us. You know the age of this team. It’s go time. And I think we have two leaders, in [GM Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube], to hopefully take us to the promised land.”
