‘I gave everything I had, but in the end it wasn’t enough’: Mitch Marner says goodbye to Maple Leafs

The biggest name set to hit the free agent market at 12:00 EST on July 1 is already off the board, as longtime Toronto Maple Leaf Mitch Marner is officially a member of the Vegas Golden Knights after a sign-and-trade.

Marner, who will make $12 million per year for the next eight years in Vegas, took to Instagram to share a goodbye message to the fans of the organization he spent almost exactly a full decade with.

“Now that my time in Toronto has come to an end, I wanted to share what these last nine years have meant to me,” Marner wrote. “Leaving isn’t easy. This city is where I grew up, where I fell in love with hockey, and where I’ve had the incredible honour of living out my childhood dream. Wearing the Maple Leaf on my chest wasn’t just about playing for a team, it was about representing my home.”

Marner, a Markham native who grew up in up a Leafs fan and played for the London Knights of the OHL, was a member of a young, uber-talented core with the Leafs alongside Auston Matthews and William Nylander that promised to end over a decade of regular season futility.

They did exactly that, as Toronto now owns the longest consecutive streak of Stanley Cup playoff appearances, but the consistent disappointments that unfolded in those playoff runs — only making it out of the first round twice — became their own mental hurdle that they could not surpass.

“When I was drafted, all I wanted was to help bring a Stanley Cup to Toronto,” Marner added. “That was always the goal, and I came up short. I know how much this team means to this city, and I know the expectations that come with wearing this jersey. I gave everything I had, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. That’s hard to admit, because I wanted it so badly, for all of us.”

Marner finishes his tenure with the Maple Leafs as one of the most productive forwards in franchise history. His 520 assists rank fourth in franchise history behind only Borje Salming, Mats Sundin and Darryl Sittler, and his 741 points rank fifth behind all of the aforementioned as well as Dave Keon.

“To the fans: thank you,” Marner concluded. “Playing in Toronto is special because of you. Over the last nine seasons, I have felt it all: the passion, the pride, the hope, the pressure, and the support. You care deeply, and I never took that for granted. As I prepare for what comes next, I leave a different person than I was at 18. I’ll always be grateful for my time here, and most of all, I’m so proud to have been a Toronto Maple Leaf.”