One of the major storylines that fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs were following during the Stanley Cup Playoffs was the performance of former forward Mitch Marner, who was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights as part of a blockbuster sign and trade move last summer.
Marner led all scorers during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and also scored his first two career playoff hat tricks, helping Vegas reach the Stanley Cup Final in his first season in Sin City.
And while they ultimately fell short against the Carolina Hurricanes, it showed that Marner can absolutely elevate his game in playoff competition, leaving many Toronto fans to wonder why he didn’t do so while with the Maple Leafs.
Meanwhile, the general manager of an up and coming club appeared to take a thinly-veiled shot at the Maple Leafs over the situation.
San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier Takes Shot At Toronto Maple Leafs Over Mitch Marner
There is no denying that Toronto is the biggest hockey market on the continent, and the media that covers the Maple Leafs is known for non-stop scrutiny that not all players are able to handle.
According to San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier, shortly after acquiring defenseman Darnell Nurse from the Edmonton Oilers, Marner essentially escaped from Toronto and had a massive weight lifted off his shoulders upon leaving, allowing him “to breathe”.
“You saw a little bit of that with Mitch Marner getting out of Toronto. Just to be able to breathe, play hockey, and not have — sometimes you kind of feel like the weight of the world’s on your shoulders to perform, and if you lose, it’s your fault, if you win, no one really says anything,” Grier said. “That’s just the life of a player in a big, big Canadian market, and if you’re a marquee player there, that always adds extra pressure to it. We think him coming here and getting out of that environment will only help his game.”
Nurse was recently picked up by the Sharks after spending the first decade of his career with the Oilers, which included consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025.
Mitch Marner Referenced “Dark Times” During His Time In Toronto
Despite coming up short in his first career trip to the Stanley Cup Final, Marner later explained the importance of taking care of his mental health.
“Mental health is a super important thing to me. It really is. I’ve been really trying to take care of my mental health, probably for the last five years or so. I’m really thankful that I’ve had some unbelievable teammates around me in Toronto that I was able to talk to. Express myself,” Marner said, according to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“Was just a dark kind of vibe. A dark hole, in a way. And I’m very thankful, like I said, that I had people around me — teammates — that asked me how I was doing and knew that (if I was) going through something, that I could talk to.”
Maple Leafs Catch Stray From Opposition GM Over Mitch Marner