Marner Reveals Emotional Goodbye Calls After Leaving Maple Leafs

Mitch Marner departs the Maple Leafs this off-season for the first time in his career, and after making it official, he opens up on the tough calls he had to make.

This off-season has been a quiet one around the National Hockey League, but for Mitch Marner, it's been anything but, as he officially departed the Toronto Maple Leafs after spending the first nine years of his career in his hometown.

That's led to plenty of fallout and backlash from fans, but for the player to be leaving so many long time teammates and friends, it must have been especially tough for No. 16.

Mitch Marner opens up about difficult farewells to Matthews, Rielly, and Leafs core

While those around Marner may have known he wanted to leave, Marner admitted in a recent interview that it was incredibly tough to make the call to tell them, especially to his veteran teammates.

'Obviously, the phone call to Auston was pretty tough. It was emotional. He had to get back to Arizona pretty quickly after the season. I tried to get a sit-down with him before, but it didn't pan out with everything happening. That phone call to him was pretty tough, it was pretty emotional. Obviously, we came in together, we did a lot of things together.

Saying goodbye to Morgan [Rielly] as well, [John Tavares], [William Nylander], all those guys as we really came in together, grew together, leaned on each other for a lot of things. The market was tough to all of us at times, and we needed to lean on each other. It was tough to call those guys and let them know it was going to happen.'

Golden Knights showdown awaits as Marner prepares to face former team in January

Now, many Maple Leafs fans have their eyes set on a January return of Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights, and while it will be an emotional one for those in the crowd, it won't be easy on Marner either.