Auston Matthews on Mitch Marner: He'll be a friend of ours for life. He made his decision and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward and we're moving on. We brought in some faces that we're super excited about. He's going to be a friend for life.
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Auston Matthews calls Mitch Marner a ‘friend for life’ but says Maple Leafs have moved on
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
By Alex Hobson
Sep 17, 2025, 10:38 EDTUpdated: Sep 17, 2025, 10:43 EDT
The Toronto Maple Leafs are getting ready to kick off the 2025-26 season, and for the first time since the start of the Auston Matthews era, there’s going to be a vastly different dynamic at training camp.
This is, of course, because Mitch Marner has moved on. He signed an eight-year extension with the Vegas Golden Knights after the Maple Leafs traded his rights there, with forward Nicolas Roy headed back the other way. Marner’s time with the Maple Leafs was chock full of ups and downs, with the tenure unfortunately ending at what felt like rock bottom after the Leafs were once again eliminated in the second round.
Matthews, who had Marner riding shotgun on his line for the vast majority of his time to date with the Maple Leafs, acknowledged that he’ll miss Marner, but is confident in the players they brought in to replace him and is ready to move on.
It’s going to be a culture shock at first for the Maple Leafs and their fans, and rightfully so. For the past half-decade and beyond, it was always ‘Matthews and Marner’, ‘Marner and Matthews’, the Core Four’. Now, the Leafs have a vastly different dynamic up front. Matthews and William Nylander are expected to carry the load offensively, while their bottom six is rounded out much better and takes some pressure off of the top six to be the ones delivering all the time.
Marner spoke with TSN’s Mark Masters a couple of weeks ago regarding some security issues he had following the playoffs. Naturally, this came up in the team’s season-opening media, and John Tavares condemned the harassment Marner faced.
John Tavares on Mitch Marner's concern about safety: I think it's whether the league or the club, they understand, especially in today's day and age where our information is accessible, safety is paramount. You never want to see a teammate go through that.
Head coach Craig Berube, in particular, is excited that he’ll never have to hear the words ‘Core Four’ ever again.
It’s a change and we all know that. You know, losing Mitch and bringing in three new players, it’s a little bit of a change here for sure. What excites me is I won’t have to hear Core Four anymore,” Berube joked. “Hopefully I won’t have to hear it from you guys [the media] all season.”
Matthews will more than likely start the season with Matthew Knies stapled to his left side, with Berube hinting that one of Max Domi or Matias Maccelli may get the first look on the top line.
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