Now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Mitch Marner discussed his decision-making process behind signing in Vegas and leaving Toronto.
There were reports that you were looking at taking meetings with other teams. What led to Vegas as the team of choice?
Marner: Obviously, the winning regimen they’ve put up over the last five years, or really, since they entered the league. They have such a competitive team every year. They have such good players here. The living arrangements, from talking to Pacioretty and Reavo over the last couple of weeks — it seemed like everything was a pretty good fit for my wife, me, and our new son.
The winning aspect of this team really helped as well, and the great players they have here. Luckily enough, it all worked out. This is where we wanted to be.
You don’t hit free agency often as a hockey player. What were the conversations like between you and your agent to turn down the opportunity and sign this deal, ultimately?
Marner: It was a wild one. It was unexpected, in a way. We didn’t really know what was going to happen. I expressed to my agent that we had a couple of teams we really liked and looked forward to meeting and talking with.
Through speculation, I thought stuff might start really falling around draft night. That is when stuff kind of happens, especially sign-and-trade stuff. We were just kind of hanging out at home, not really knowing what was going to happen, with a bit of speculation that maybe something might happen eventually.
My agent called. I kind of got the word on Friday night that something might be going down with Vegas and Toronto, and how it feels to my wife and me. This was a spot that was very high on my list. We wanted to come here. I went back to my agent and said, “I am open to doing this if we can find a way to do it.” A couple of hours later, Kelly (McCrimmon) called me and said we have a deal going on.
I was very happy and very fortunate. We thought about going to free agency, but this is the place we wanted to be. We didn’t want to lose that opportunity. We wanted to join this hockey team.
Kelly McCrimmon has said that they were interested in you for a while and that there was something around the trade deadline with a three-team deal. When was the first time it was on your radar that it was possible you were going to play here? When was the first time you had real discussions with anyone — family, or anyone around you — about going to Vegas?
Marner: It really kind of hit trade deadline day. The day prior, we got offered a trade to go somewhere else. My wife was seven or eight months pregnant at the time. We weren’t really going to go somewhere that was maybe going to be a short stint. If we were going somewhere, it was somewhere to sign for an extension, raise our child there, and grow up there.
We kind of heard that Vegas might be interested in doing a three-way deal. From what it sounds like, not much really happened going forward, process-wise, with trying to work with the three teams. But that was when we started really talking. It sounds like Vegas has an interest in us, and we have an interest in them.
That is when we started thinking about it, but not overthinking it, I guess. At that time, I was still very committed to playing hockey in Toronto. I wanted to focus on just being there and finishing a job there.
Really, when the season ended, over the next two or three weeks, I sat down with my whole family and agent. We went through the discussions of what stuff could look like and how we can figure this out. Luckily enough, Vegas came with the deal on Friday.
As I said, we talked about how this was our first destination we would like to go to. It worked out very well.
You come from a city where there has been tons of pressure. What is the challenge of going from there to here, with this roster, this locker room, and this culture?
Marner: It is a good question. You want to be in a place where you want to win. It is the whole goal of why we do this. This team has shown they can do it. I am lucky enough to now hopefully bring another piece to hopefully bring it back here.
We put the most pressure on ourselves as hockey players. That is how we play the game. You want to win every single night. You want to win every battle. You want to win anything you can all the time.
This team, since it entered the league, really pushed the boundaries to be that winning team. That is where I want to be. I want to be in a winning situation.
I have been lucky enough to be on some very good teams with very good players. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get over the hump. That sucks a lot, to be honest. But you have to look past things.
We have a great opportunity here with an unbelievable team. We are very fortunate and lucky enough to be here.
You are from Toronto, where hockey is really big. When Vegas first entered the league, what were your first thoughts about there being a hockey team in Vegas, and then them winning a Stanley Cup? It’s been a while since a team in Canada has won one. Could you ever imagine you would be playing for a team in Vegas?
Marner: My whole mindset when I was in Toronto was that it was really tough to leave Toronto, to be honest. I didn’t think ever think it’d maybe come to that day.
When Vegas first came to the league, I think it was a shock. I think everyone thought it was going to be a team that would be competitive, but that a lot of teams were going to come in here and maybe do some stupid stuff the night before hockey games. I think that is what everyone’s thoughts were.
You realize quickly that as soon as this team was made, there were guys who were willing to work and battle. It didn’t matter the names on the team. They were just there to do their job. They ended up winning a lot of hockey games.
With Kelly, Bill, and McPhee, they started really making a winning atmosphere here and really pushing to make the team better every single year.
Last year in Toronto, or two years ago, really… We didn’t win, obviously. We didn’t do what we wanted to do. Stuff started going a little south. We didn’t know what was going to happen. There were a lot of trade rumours all last summer. We didn’t know what was going to happen in that regard, either.
As soon as the year started up, we were ready to commit, play hockey, and see what would happen. At the same time, we were willing to take it the distance. We kind of told Toronto that was the plan.
I was so grateful to play there for nine years. I said in my end-of-year interview that they took a risky pick on a small kid from Toronto who was forever grateful to wear a Toronto Maple Leaf jersey and be able to play in front of the greats who wore that jersey.
Now, being a family man and a father, we thought we were ready to look somewhere else, find a new home, and find a new place to grow our family. As I said, I am so grateful to be here and be a part of this team.
What is the significance of #93 to you, and how excited are you to go back to wearing #93 after all of those years as #16?
Marner: I am very excited about it. The first time I saw it on someone was on my son. My wife and I, in our hotel room, put it on him. It was just a really special moment.
It is a jersey that I wore with the London Knights for the three years there. I had great success with it and really enjoyed the number.
My dad was a big Dougie Gilmour fan growing up, and I, luckily enough, got to watch some great highlight clips of him. He was a little guy at the time who was just a little buzzsaw out there who really kind of annoyed people out here.
From that moment on, I really wanted to wear #93. Obviously, that number is retired in Toronto for great reasons. As soon as I came back to a new team, I was talking to Kelly on Friday night, I think it was, and he gave me the call on what number I wanted to wear. He had a pretty good understanding of me going back there before I even said it.
I am very happy to be back to it. Hopefully, it brings great success.
What are your thoughts on Vegas as a city, and the experiences you’ve had in the city and playing against the Knights at T-Mobile Arena?
Marner: Playing in this arena is all-time. It really is. It is crazy, just the vibe you get as soon as you walk into the arena, to the warmups, to the starting of the game. As athletes, we never really get to see the start of a hockey game as far as how they get the fans into it, off their feet, and going.
Luckily enough, my parents have been able to see it the last couple of years we’ve come here. It is a pretty good destination or spot to come watch a hockey game. Seeing the videos from their phones and the love that the fans give when you come out on the ice is pretty special.
The city itself — everyone thinks of it as the Strip, but there is so much more to it. I was lucky enough to talk to Reavo and Pacioretty about everything off the Strip — living-wise, schooling-wise, how tight-knit the communities are, and the privacy aspect. A lot of things checked our boxes.
My wife and I like to go out, enjoy ourselves, and have nice dinners. We can still do that, going down to the Strip, or you can do that in the Summerlin area. That is something that really grabbed our attention.
You’ve had a chance to play for Bruce Cassidy at Four Nations. What was that relationship like, and what will it be like playing for him full-time as a head coach?
Marner: Before then, I played against him a lot in the Toronto-Boston rivalry. I played in a couple of playoff series against him. He has always been a high-end coach. Getting to know him personally at the Four Nations was awesome. His help with the power play throughout that tournament was amazing, and the power play that was going on here all year with how deadly they were all year — first in the NHL, which is very impressive.
He is just a very down-to-earth guy. He talks very calmly. He listens to your points and what you have to say, too. Those are the conversations you want to have with your coach. You want to be able to express yourself and let him express himself while finding how to help each other out.
I am looking forward to playing under him. It has been a great success before.
The players who have started families here have talked about how the mindset changes. You go from being a superstar hockey player to a family man. All of a sudden, the priorities change. You talked about the community, and talking to Max Pacioretty and Ryan Reaves. Can you talk about your progression as a young superstar in Toronto, and how your priorities have changed to also being a family man and a brand-new father?
Marner: It’s been eye-opening, in a way, to be honest. It has been really special. Being there for my son’s birth and seeing how strong and amazing a woman’s body and my wife’s was in that moment is tough to explain. If you have a child, I think you know. It is tough to explain that kind of moment.
Quickly, things change. We were going into the second round, I believe, right before we had Miles. Hockey is such a priority in all of our minds, but as soon as I got home from the rink immediately after games, I was trying to figure out how I can help my wife and my son, staying up late some nights and trying to take care of him or help my wife get a couple of hours sleep between feeding times.
It really changes your mind quickly. I was fortunate enough to have a lot of guys in Toronto who had children who gave me the rundown multiple weeks beforehand. As a person, sometimes, you think it will be different, but then it happens, and you are thankful for the lessons other people taught you along the way.
Your mind definitely changes to being a family man and not just a hockey player.
A lot of people’s first reactions were that Mitch Marner is going to get to play with Jack Eichel. What do you admire about his game, and how do you think you two will pair on the ice?
Marner: I am really looking forward to it. He is an exceptional player. He is a guy who really moves well up and down the ice. At both ends of the ice, he is very responsible. At the same time, he has a deadly shot with his vision and playmaking style.
I am very excited to start working with him, try to figure out the chemistry quickly, and get that rolling. I have talked to a couple of guys who have been his teammates, who have said unbelievable things about him as a human. I am very much looking forward to being in the locker room with him and starting to learn tendencies of where he likes to be on the ice and where I like to be on the ice, how we can work it best, and try to figure out ways to score some hockey goals and win some hockey games.
It’s a full circle with you being back on a team called the Knights. How much does it feel like destiny to be in the seat you’re in?
Marner: It’s a full circle moment, for sure. It’s a really cool feeling to… Obviously, it’s the Vegas Golden Knights, but to be called a Knight again. It’s something I took with great passion when I was in London, and it’s something I take with passion, being here in Vegas.
I am very much looking forward to the start of the season here and getting going, getting around the guys, and finding our way to how we can help this team win hockey games.
