Mitch Marner Talks 'Winning Regimen' During Introductory Press Conference With Golden Knights

I'm not going to lie to you: I found this year's NHL free-agent frenzy a little underwhelming, and that's because most of the big dogs that were supposed to hit the market never made it to 12 pm on July 1 before they had a new deal.

But that doesn't mean that some of them didn't change teams, and that includes a player who was projected to be one of the biggest fish on the market, Mitch Marner.

After nine seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs that saw Marner putting up big regular seasons and then struggling in the postseason, it was clear that Marner needed a change of scenery.

While the expectation was he'd hit the free agent market on Tuesday afternoon, over the weekend, there were rumblings that the Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights were working on a sign-and-trade for Marner, and that was worked out ahead of the start of free agency.

Marner talked about his excitement to suit up with the Golden Knights during his introductory press conference.

Newly-acquired Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner poses with his jersey alongside Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

"Obviously, the winning regimen they’ve put up through the last five years, really since they’ve been in the league," Marner said, per Sportsnet, before adding that he talked to some of his former Leafs teammates who had previously played in Sin City. 

"The living arrangements from talking to (Max) Pacioretty and Reavo (Ryan Reaves) just through the last couple weeks, it seemed like everything was a pretty good fit for my wife and I and our new son. And you know, the great players they have here. It’s where we wanted to be."

You may wonder why Vegas wanted to go the sign-and-trade route — since the deal cost them center Nicolas Roy — as opposed to just waiting until the start of free agency, but that's because this allowed Marner too sign an eight-year deal instead of just a seven-year deal which allowed the team to offer Marner the same amount of money at a more team friendly AAV (average annual value).

Vegas is notoriously aggressive when it comes to acquiring high-end free agents (even though Marner wasn't technically a free agent, but you know what I mean), and it has been working for them, as the team has only missed the postseason once since joining the league in 2017.