Golden Knights Forward Mitch Marner Talks Return To Toronto: 'It Will Be Weird'
With all 32 NHL teams playing 82-game slates (before it ups to 84 games next season), there are… hang on, let me get a calculator… a lot of NHL games. However, if there was one game that I would have circled before a single second has ticked off the clock in the regular season, I would circle the Vegas Golden Knights' trip to Toronto to take on the Leafs on Jan. 23.
Why? Because that will mark Mitch Marner's return to Scotiabank Arena after he was dealt to Vegas in a sign-and-trade deal ahead of free agency.
Marner didn't leave on the best of terms after another disappointing playoff exit for the Maple Leafs. He was asked about his pending return to Toronto at the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour this week.
"I know it will be weird walking into the visitors side for once," Marner said, per NHL.com. "So, yeah, we’ll see how it goes. I mean, when that moment comes, we’ll take it head-on and see what happens. The good thing is that I know I’ll be going in there with a lot of guys on my side and 22 guys that are willing to do whatever it takes to win a hockey game. And I know there will be a lot of loved ones in the fans as well in the arena.
"I’m sure once the season gets going I won’t think about it as much just because I like to be in the present, in the moment," he continued. "But once that week hits, I’m sure it will start hitting about what the thoughts and feeling might be like."
Mitch Marner’s January return to Toronto as a Golden Knight sets up a charged reunion with Leafs fans after his offseason sign-and-trade departure. (Getty images)
The Leafs' old core of Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander was in desperate need of a shake-up, and with the 28-year-old needing a new deal, he was the odd man out.
I think the change of scenery will do a lot of good for Marner, and he should fit in nicely with a talented Golden Knights roster.
But it will be interesting to see how he's received when he hits the ice in Toronto for the first time with a different crest on the front of his sweater.
I'm not really sure how that will go. I think there are cases to be made both ways that he'll get a huge ovation or some serious boo-birds.
Whatever the case, we'll find out for sure in January.