The Toronto Maple Leafs lost a major piece of their roster this summer. Mitch Marner joined the Vegas Golden Knights through a sign-and-trade agreement before NHL Free Agency. This is a big loss, but with stars such as William Nylander still around, Toronto expects to be good once again.
The Maple Leafs have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last nine seasons. Toronto has been led by a “Core Four” consisting of Marner, Nylander, Auston Matthews, and John Tavares. Only three of these names remain after Tavares re-signed in Toronto this summer.
Marner’s departure is significant, though. He is one of the best players in this game. He passed the 100-point mark for the first time in his career in 2024-25. Furthermore, he is one of the best defensive wingers in the NHL. Any team, even one as talented as the Maple Leafs, can use a player like this.
Most Maple Leafs stars have not addressed his departure. However, this has started to change. Matthews discussed the move recently. And now Nylander has provided his thoughts on the matter.
“It’s tough seeing him go, but I’m so happy for him and his family,” Nylander said, via NHL.com, at the NHL/NHLPA European Player Media Tour in Milan, Italy. “He got to pick where he went, so, in that aspect, I’m happy for him. We’re going to miss him a lot but that’s just the business of the sport. That’s the way it is. So we’ve got to regroup as a team and figure out a way to keep winning games.”
Did Mitch Marner Keep His Focus On Maple Leafs?
Minas Panagiotakis/Getty ImagesMitch Marner had a lot going on during the 2024-25 NHL season.
Marner was a very busy man during the 2024-25 campaign. He had to juggle contract discussions with the Maple Leafs throughout the season. He represented Canada at the 2025 4 Nations Faceoff in February. And he contributed to Toronto’s Stanley Cup push.
Some speculation has indicated Marner may have looked beyond Toronto to free agency. Especially considering how his sign-and-trade agreement went down. Nylander pushed back on this idea, though.
“Not sure where that stuff comes from, but I don’t think he was ever thinking of leaving ahead of time,” Nylander told NHL.com. “I actually asked him during the season and he said he was concentrating on Toronto. I didn’t want to press him on that and let him be because it was obviously on his mind, but his play was focused on helping us. Then I asked him after the season and he wasn’t sure.”
William Nylander Hoping Maple Leafs Build On Past Season
Nylander and Toronto suffered another disappointing postseason defeat in 2025. They had the Florida Panthers down 2-0 in the second round of the playoffs. Moreover, they had a chance to take a 3-0 series lead. And yet, it slipped through their fingers.
Florida won Game 3 of the series in overtime. They went on to win the series in seven games before repeating as Stanley Cup champions in late June. Despite this loss, Nylander hopes his team can take the positives from this past season and apply them for 2025-26.
“I mean, we pushed Florida to the limit. We had a couple of (bad) games against them, Games 5 and 7, but for the most part we were right there in that series. So I think we can really build off that and learn from what we did wrong to be better in those situations,” the Maple Leafs star told NHL.com.
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