Maple Leafs trade Mitch Marner to Golden Knights
TORONTO – Mitch Marner both dazzled and frustrated Maple Leafs fans across nine roller-coaster seasons.
The local kid dreamt of pulling on the Original Six franchise’s blue-and-white threads and starring under his hometown’s intense spotlight.
Now he’s exiting stage left, a long march out the door complete.
The Leafs officially shipped the skilled winger to the Vegas Golden Knights for depth centre Nicolas Roy on Tuesday in a sign-and-trade deal that brings an end to Marner’s time in Toronto — and the so-called “Core 4” that was never able to get the club over its playoff hump.
Marner agreed to an eight-year, US$96-million extension with his now-former team before the swap was completed. He would have only been able to sign a seven-year contract on the NHL’s open market in unrestricted free agency at noon ET.
The 28-year-year-old, who had a full no-movement clause in his previous contract for the last two seasons, posted a message to his Instagram account shortly after the move was made official.
“Leaving isn’t easy,” Marner wrote. “All I wanted was help to bring a Stanley Cup to Toronto. 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.”
So how did the Leafs get to a point where arguably the most talented local player to ever don their colours — many envisioned his No. 16 one day hanging from Scotiabank Arena’s rafters — would leave under these circumstances?
“He’s going to go down as one of the great Leafs, right?” Toronto general manager Brad Treliving said at the team’s practice facility. “The statistics prove it. Ultimately, the player has a choice.”
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The Leafs also announced they had officially re-signed pending restricted free agent forward Matthew Knies to a six-year, $46.5-million extension.
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The 22-year-old Phoenix product registered 29 goals and 29 assists for 58 points across 78 games in his second full NHL season playing on the top line alongside Marner and Auston Matthews.
“Everyone’s so invested,” Knies said of playing in Toronto. “It’s a special place.”
He was also asked about Marner’s departure on his video conference call with reporters.
“You’re not happy seeing one of your (leaders), one of your veteran players on another team,” Knies said. “But that’s the business.”
Roy, who’s heading into the final year of a contract that pays him $3 million annually, had 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 71 games last season.
“When a player of Mitch’s magnitude moves away, that’s never a fun day,” Treliving said. “But we were able to recoup a player who I think can really help us.”
The Leafs, who got John Tavares at a discount rate of just over $17.5 million across four years last week, also acquired Matias Maccelli and re-signed fellow forward Steven Lorentz to a three-year, $4.05-million extension Monday. Toronto then added some bruising depth up front by inking Michael Pezzetta to a two-year, US$1.57-million pact.
Marner, meanwhile, now heads to a Knights team — one coming off first- and second-round playoff exits the last two springs — with far less media and fan attention, but also an organization that has shown it can be ruthlessly quick to cut bait.
The No. 4 pick at the 2015 draft had exceptional regular-season success in Toronto alongside a four-headed star forward group made up of Matthews, Tavares and William Nylander.
He registered 102 points in 2024-25 and hit 90 on three other occasions thanks to incredible vision, on-ice smarts and a magical set of hands. Apart from breathtaking offensive ability, Marner also took care of his own zone, finishing seventh in Selke Trophy voting this past season as the league’s top defensive forward.
The playoffs, however, were a stunningly different story.
Marner, who inked a six-year contract extension with Toronto worth more than $65 million in September 2019, became the focus among a rabid fan base for the team’s post-season shortfalls.
The six-foot, 180-pound Marner produced 63 points (13 goals, 50 assists) in 70 playoff contests, but the Leafs made the second round only twice in his nine seasons. In Games 5, 6 and 7 from 2017 through 2025, he scored just once and added 10 assists in 26 contests.
There was, however, plenty of blame to be shared as the Leafs managed only two victories in 11 series in the Matthews-Marner era. Toronto lost all six of its Game 7s in that stretch, but also fell to the eventual Cup winner or runner-up five times.
Marner’s last contract — a pact negotiated under the watch of former Leafs president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Kyle Dubas — included that full no-movement clause over its final two seasons.
It’s believed Toronto, which will continue to search for a top-6 forward via trade with little available in free agency, attempted to deal Marner to Carolina for fellow star forward Mikko Rantanen ahead of the March 2025 trade deadline, but he blocked the move.
“We approached Mitch to engage him on a contract,” said Treliving, who declined to say if the Leafs offered more than Vegas. “Mitch and his representative wanted to wait until the year was done. As it became clearer and clearer to us that potential may not be there, we tried to look at alternatives.”
Asked point-blank if he wished to stay with the Leafs following May’s second-round playoff exit when Toronto fell in seven games to the Florida Panthers — a group that would go on to hoist its second straight Stanley Cup — it was what Marner didn’t say that spoke volumes.
“I’ve always loved my time here, I’ve loved being here,” he said at the time. “I’ve been so grateful.”
Marner’s bags now packed, Sin City awaits.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025.
A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.
The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.
New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.
Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.
Montreal finished second in the category.
The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.
“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”
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The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.
In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.
“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”
Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.
In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.
Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.
Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”
To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.
Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.
Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.
Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.
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The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.
Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.
A Burlington, Ont., mother was unsettled to discover that an old photo of her children had been used in a fraudulent GoFundMe that attempted to elicit donations in connection the recent Texas floods.
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to say that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
“She reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, here’s a link to a GoFundMe. Sorry this has happened to you, but obviously a picture of your kids has been used without your consent and it’s being used for a GoFundMe to raise money, to help a family dealing with the Texas floods,’” she said.
Cole explained that the fake GoFundMe, which has since been removed by the company, was looking for donations to support a widowed mother of six kids in connection.
At least 120 people have died while more than 100 others remain unaccounted for as a result of the flooding, including 27 children and councilors from Camp Mystic.
“They were trying to raise $40,000 because of the three daughters had been victims of the Texas floods,” Cole said. “And the way it was presented felt very much like they were part of maybe that girl’s camp.”
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to make that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
Provided
Cole said once the listing was sent to her, she immediately contacted GoFundMe to get the fundraiser taken down.
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By Wednesday morning, the company had done so and in a statement to Global News, GoFundMe said that the fundraiser did not receive any donations and the account has been banned from creating any further fundraisers on the platform.
“GoFundMe has the most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind. We have round the clock trust and safety support, humans and technology making sure funds will get to where they are intended,” the statement offered.
After contacting the company, Cole said she shared the incident on her social media pages to raise awareness.
“So I did put it on my Facebook and I put it in my LinkedIn as like a heads-up learning experience kind of thing and there was a lot of outrage,” she said.
Cole also noted that while she is disappointed by the incident, she is well aware that her troubles are miniscule in comparison to those affected by the flooding.
“I do feel a little bit in myself that what I’m feeling is in no way comparable to what the actual families are feeling who have gone through the tragedies of the flooding,” she said.
The photo came from an old blog post she had written 16 years ago. Cole can date the picture as the baby in the photo is now getting ready to go for his driver’s test.
“I’m one of those, like, OG mommy bloggers from 20 years ago. So my kids have been on the internet. They have been sort of in the public eye,” she explained.
“And I know the risk is out there. And I think parents need to remember that, that their kids’ photos can be just screenshotted and used without consent. So there’s one lesson.
“I felt a little, well, very unsettled about it, particularly because of what it was being used for.”
In addition to being a parenting blogger, she also helped found Mabel’s Labels, which offers washable labels for kids clothing and other school items, in an effort to keep them out of the lost and found.
Julie Cole and her six kids in 2025.
Provided
Being a spokesperson for the company while raising six kids keeps her in the parenting sphere and she offered some other advice to parents about the images and social media.
“I think parents just have to be mindful and aware that once it’s out there, you know you’d like to think you’ll get consent or you’ll give consent if somebody asks or they want to use it, but people will just take it and they can just take,” she said.
“You have to be especially careful now with AI, because these photos can be altered.”
She also warned parents to check with their kids as they get older to see if they are OK with pics being posted and that people should be mindful of where they are sharing their donations.
“Another lesson out of this is people need to really be cautious and know where they’re putting their fundraising dollars,” Cole said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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