Mitch Marner departed the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign with the Vegas Golden Knights after nine seasons. He valued living in Toronto and being close to family and friends but chose a new chapter in life. The phone call to Auston Matthews was particularly emotional because they entered the organization together and shared many experiences. Goodbyes to Morgan Rielly, John Tavares and William Nylander were also difficult. Marner, Matthews and Nylander developed together, leaned on each other through media criticism and a challenging market. Departures of core teammates often create significant organizational ripple effects.
"Obviously, the phone call to Auston. That was a tough one," Marner said. "He had to get back to Arizona quickly after the season. I was going to try to get a sit-down with him before, but it just didn't pan out. That phone call to him was pretty tough. It was pretty emotional. We came in together, we did a lot of things together. Saying bye to Morgan (Rielly) as well, JT, and Willy. All those guys, especially us three (Matthews, Nylander, Marner), came in together and grew together. The market was tough to all of us at times and we had to lean on each other and it was tough calling those guys. It sucked."
"We loved being in Toronto full time and being close to family and friends, but we just thought it was time for a new chapter in life"
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