Leafs Land Legend

🚨 Despite reports suggesting Mitch Marner had already made up his mind to leave the Maple Leafs midway through the season, William Nylander pushed back on the idea that Marner was looking elsewhere while still under contract. With Marner set to become an unrestricted free agent after the year, speculation had been swirling for months. “Not sure where that stuff comes from, but I don’t think he was ever thinking of leaving ahead of time. I actually asked him during the season and he said he was concentrating on Toronto. I didn’t want to press him on that and let him be because it was obviously on his mind, but his play was focused on helping us. Then I asked him after the season and he wasn’t sure. It’s tough seeing him go but I’m so happy for him and his family. He got to pick where he went so, in that aspect, I’m happy for him. We’re going to miss him a lot but that’s just the business of the sport. That’s the way it is. So we’ve got to regroup as a team and figure out a way to keep winning games.” Nylander noted that he and Marner had grown up together in Toronto, teammates with the Leafs since 2016. When asked about the heated exchange between the two during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs — where he told Marner to “grow up” on the bench — Nylander brushed it off with a laugh. “It’s hockey, Things happen in the heat of battle. There was too much read into that. We came in and played our first full season together and our friendship just grew from there. He’s an incredible person. Off the ice too. He was the one making sure that we had team events like Halloween parties, dinners, all those kind of events. He would set those things up. Somebody’s going to have to take on that role now because he did an incredible job doing all that stuff. “And then, just being a friend on the side, just an incredible guy. I could always talk to him about whatever. He’ll be missed. And for what he does on the ice, just an incredible player.” — @NHLdotcom #LeafsForever