“We’ll obviously miss him, he’s a great friend and great teammate. That’s kind of the business side of it, that’s tough, but wish him nothing but the best. We’ll just keep it moving.” Those were Auston Matthews’ words on Mitch Marner, delivered a month after his Maple Leafs teammate had left to join the Vegas Golden Knights. While his comments suggested that the skipper had made his peace with the star forward’s exit and closed the chapter, the same couldn’t be said for the media, who continue to press him on Marner. That ultimately compelled Matthews to issue a sly warning.
As the Maple Leafs’ “B” team gears up to take the ice in Ottawa for their first preseason game against the Senators, the main squad is back home, recovering from injuries and preparing for the 2025 season. On that note, the skipper, who already has a lot on his plate to help the team repeat the division title, would expect to hear the ‘ifs and buts’ questions only regarding the team.
But instead, here is Matthews, rather than being quizzed about a player who no longer has any association with the team. Hence, speaking to reporters on Sunday, the 28-year-old made it clear he doesn’t want to discuss his former teammate any further. “Umm, we’ll see what happens. You got two more weeks, and then we’re done with these questions,” said Auston, as per the clip shared by @BR_OpenIce on X.
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Notably, the reports aren’t wrong in asking Auston Matthews about his former teammate, but a good friend. Even though the team is slowly getting healthier, a few issues linger. One is that the California-native is dealing with his own injury concerns and is focused on helping the team not only defend their division title but also transition smoothly into a new era.
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And guess what? Part of that transition involves moving on from Mitch Marner. While the team has done so, questions about Marner’s departure still come up. But evidently so, Matthews, however, is done with it. From the time of saying “We obviously love him to death,” to “we’re done [talking about him],” it’s clear that the Ice center thinks about the present and future of the team as well as those who are with him on the team.
So perhaps, all the NHL reporters have to make sure is that they can talk about anything with Matthews, except for Mitch Marner, who, on the other hand, even if it was quite ‘hard‘ to leave the Maple Leafs, had vocally admitted that the Vegas Golden Knights was a spot that was ‘very high’ on his list. “I wanted to come here. Kind of went back to my agent and said, ‘I’m open to doing this if we can find a way to do it.’ A couple hours later, we had a deal going on. Very fortunate.”
Of course, professionally, Matthews and Co. respected Mitch’s ‘not-want-to-lose-opportunity,’ situation of joining the Knights. But now, as he did, the Maple wants to focus on themselves!
‘Distractions’ are the last thing that Auston Matthews and Co. want!
Auston Matthews admitted that the talks of Mitch Marner’s contract going on since last year were not much of a distraction, and neither was his post-match exit. In fact, since the beginning of this campaign, the whole team had been working together like a close-knit group. “From the start of camp everybody is working for one goal and coming together as quickly as possible,” he said in a similar interview.
Yes, we get it. For a man who has tallied 741 points (221 goals, 520 assists) in 657 games — placing him fifth in franchise history — while posting a +128 plus-minus since his debut in 2016-17, one will obviously wonder if the Maple Leafs have what it takes to even replace Mitch Marner. Sure, they did bring back 23-year-old Nick Robertson on a one-year, $1.825 million deal, hoping this could be his breakout season.
While Robertson offers potential, the Leafs were looking for a bigger impact—a proven leader and Stanley Cup winner to energize the locker room. Their pursuit of Brad Marchand didn’t materialize, and high-profile targets like Connor McDavid remain unlikely. Evan Rodrigues, the newly crowned Stanley Cup champion, was also called a more realistic option.
While he may not produce 50 points a season, Rodrigues would have brought playoff experience, veteran leadership, and a winning pedigree, all at just $3 million AAV. Then again, whatever one sees at the Maple Leafs’ team is exactly what they have in mind to begin their season.
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Rest, we don’t know about others, but Auston Matthews sure is optimistic: “A lot of changes, but feeling excited about the guys we brought in, and obviously excited about the guys that we have,” he said, as reported by Heavy.com, he confidently expressed his belief in the team he’s leading and his excitement for the season ahead.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.