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Auston Matthews shares simple message to Mitch Marner after Maple Leafs, Golden Knights trade

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Spencer Garrett Ostrow | Last updated Jul 3, 2025 4:20 PM ET

Mitch Marner’s time as a Toronto Maple Leaf officially came to an end, as the team traded him to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forward Nicolas Roy.

An exit had been brewing for a while, especially after the Leafs once again failed to advance past the second round. They haven’t done so since 2002, and the time had come to break up the Core Four of Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares, which formed in 2018.

With Marner’s six-year contract expiring, the timing made sense. The 28-year-old right winger also got a raise from Vegas, signing a contract extension with his new team worth an average annual value (AAV) of $12 million.

Shortly after the trade was finalized, the Maple Leafs’ social media team shared a post thanking Marner.

"For the nine years of magic you brought on and off the ice. Thank you, Mitchy!" the post read.

Like many others, Matthews, Toronto's captain, saw the post and decided to share it on his Instagram story, emphasizing the "Thank you" message to his good friend.

This comes just under a month-and-a-half after the Leafs were eliminated in the playoffs by the Florida Panthers, and Matthews was asked about the possibility of Marner leaving with his contract expiring this summer.

"Yeah, it's tough. I mean, he's a brother. He's such a good teammate, friend," Matthews said. "We're extremely close, he's extremely close with a lot of guys on the team. He's a big part of our team and has been a big part of our team. Unfortunately, that's kind of the nature of the business. People come and go and I don't know, he has the right to make his own decision. Obviously, we all love him very much and like I said, he's an amazing person and an amazing teammate."

After being drafted in the top four picks in back-to-back years, Matthews (No. 1) and Marner (No. 4) both made their NHL debuts in the 2016-17 season.

Marner leaves his hometown team after playing 657 regular-season games, scoring 221 goals, adding 520 assists and totaling 741 points.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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