Mitch Marner (93) got his first taste of playing against his former team last week, when the Maple Leafs made the trip out to Vegas. On Friday, Marner will step in front of the Toronto fans for the first time since opting to leave as a free agent.Candice Ward/The Associated Press
Unlike Jonathan Toews’s return to Chicago earlier this week – which was never going to be anything but a heartfelt, emotional affair – no one is quite certain how Mitch Marner will be received Friday for his first game back in Toronto.
Lacking the goodwill engendered by bringing one Stanley Cup – never mind the trio that Toews delivered – to a long-suffering NHL organization, Marner returns as another reminder of the raw, unfulfilled potential of a golden generation that was cruelly molten in the heat of playoff battle.
When the Maple Leafs drafted a nucleus of Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander a decade ago – to be joined by John Tavares through free agency – many in Toronto presumed it was the beginning of the end of their own championship drought.
Now, with Marner a member of the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, and the Maple Leafs struggling simply to make the playoffs, it appears that Toronto is closer to the end of an era that rarely played into May, let alone June.
In Marner’s first appearance against his old team a week ago – a 6-5 overtime Vegas win to which he contributed two assists – there were enough disgruntled Leaf fans in Nevada to create an uncomfortable preview of what might happen at Scotiabank Arena.
Cathal Kelly: If the NHL wants to innovate, it can start with scrapping its all-star game
While his own general manager, Kelly McCrimmon, admits he doesn’t know what Friday holds in store for the Markham, Ont.-born childhood Leaf fan, another former Bud, Mike Johnson, told TSN’s Overdrive radio show that even if opinion in the building is divided over Marner, the more negative will likely hold sway.
“Even if it’s a 50-50 split, the boos will drown out the cheers for a lot of the game in Toronto and I think it will hurt him,” Johnson said. “… He literally is the greatest Toronto-born Maple Leaf of all-time and he’s going to go back there for the first time and he’s going to get crushed, an avalanche of boos and negativity, vitriol and signs and all the rest.”
Not that the hearts of many Leaf fans will bleed upon hearing that. Marner, as many will be quick to point out, chose to leave, backing the organization into a corner as a pending free agent last summer that ultimately saw the team swing a trade to his chosen destination – Vegas – netting Stanley Cup-winner Nicolas Roy in exchange.
Whatever the fans might think of Marner though, his place in the team record book is secure, sitting fourth for the most assists in franchise history (520) and sixth in points (741). However, his regular-season bona fides were hardly ever in doubt, with the former fourth overall pick leading the team in scoring in five of his nine seasons in Toronto.
Marner spoke with Toronto media at the conclusion of the Leafs’ season in May, marking his final appearance as a part of the organization.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
It was in the springtime that his struggles were often laid bare, with the 28-year-old leading the team in scoring twice in nine trips to Lord Stanley’s dance, registering 63 points in 70 games. For historical team context – and for Leaf fans that is often everything – those 63 points are as many as Doug Gilmour tallied during those two memorable spring flings that both ended one round short of the final.
But his record in blue and white is the past. Now replete in steel grey and gold, Marner will attempt to write a new playoff postscript to his career’s newest chapter this spring, once he has navigated one final Friday obligation to the city and country of his birth.
And besides, it’s not like he won’t find friendly faces down the hall in the home dressing room.
“I would hope it’s a warm welcome,” said Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll following Wednesday’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings. “I know he has nothing but good memories here, and I think the fans have experienced a lot of good memories with him as well.
“He’s a great guy. It’s unfortunate he’s not with our group any more, but I think hockey is a place of respect, and I hope that the fans pay him respect.”
Defenceman Brandon Carlo, who is no stranger to playing both with and against Marner – having faced him numerous times as a member of the Boston Bruins – said that given the Leafs’ current situation, the time for niceties towards a former teammate will be short-lived.
“I hope he just comes in and takes advantage of the opportunity to appreciate just all the memories that he’s built over the over his years here, and there’s definitely going to be an extra spring in his step, for sure,” Carlo said Wednesday. “But overall, I think we want to just continue to play our game, focus on ourselves, but that’ll be an emotional one for him.”
Marner has 12 goals and 39 assists through 48 games played so far with the Golden Knights.Caroline Brehman/The Associated Press