Mitch Marner Explains Controversial Reasoning for Not Waiving His No-Trade Clause Months Ago
Mitch Marner got to speak with the Las Vegas Golden Knights media for the first time on Tuesday, and it was here that he gave some answers to Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
After being traded to the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, Mitch Marner was in Nevada on Tuesday, where he got to put on the jersey for the first time and meet with the media.
Overall, it turned out to be quite the production, with Marner's father, Paul, in the media room, much to the chagrin of Leafs fans everywhere.
During the press conference, the superstar winger was asked numerous questions, and many of them had to do with his former team.
Mitch Marner speaks to the Las Vegas Golden Knights media
For instance, the forward was asked to explain why he refused a trade to the Golden Knights earlier in the season. After all, he had the final say with his no-move clause.
Marner noted that due to his wife's pregnancy, he figured it would be better for his family to stay put, at least for the time being.
While this was a good decision for the Marner family, there are certainly some Leafs fans who still have their feelings hurt about it.
I think the day before the deadline, we were offered a trade to go somewhere else. My wife was seven or eight months pregnant at the time, and we weren't really going to go somewhere that was just going to be a short stint. If we were going to move, it was going to be with the intention of signing an extension-somewhere we could raise our child and grow together.
Then we kind of heard that Vegas might be interested in doing a three-way deal. From what it sounded like, not much really progressed in terms of trying to work something out between the three teams. But that was the point where we really started talking, saying, 'It sounds like Vegas has interest in us, and we have interest in them.' So we started thinking about it seriously-but not overthinking it.
At that time, I was still very committed to playing in Toronto. I wanted to stay focused and finish the job there.
It wasn't really until two or three weeks after the season ended that I sat down with my family and agent to go through what the future could look like and how we could figure things out.
Luckily, Vegas came forward with an offer on Friday. Like I said, that was our top destination, and it worked out really well.
Then we kind of heard that Vegas might be interested in doing a three-way deal. From what it sounded like, not much really progressed in terms of trying to work something out between the three teams. But that was the point where we really started talking, saying, 'It sounds like Vegas has interest in us, and we have interest in them.' So we started thinking about it seriously-but not overthinking it.
At that time, I was still very committed to playing in Toronto. I wanted to stay focused and finish the job there.
It wasn't really until two or three weeks after the season ended that I sat down with my family and agent to go through what the future could look like and how we could figure things out.
Luckily, Vegas came forward with an offer on Friday. Like I said, that was our top destination, and it worked out really well.
At the end of the day, Marner is now gone, and there is absolutely nothing the Leafs faithful can do about it. This is the cycle of life, and they must learn to deal with it.
Only time will tell whether or not Marner actually shines in Vegas, or if he continues to be a shell of himself in the postseason.
Whatever the case may be, this is all going to be extremely interesting.
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JUILLET 2 | 866 ANSWERS Mitch Marner Explains Controversial Reasoning for Not Waiving His No-Trade Clause Months Ago Do you believe Mitch Marner is going to play well with the Las Vegas Golden Knights? | ||
| YES | 560 | 64.7 % |
| NO | 306 | 35.3 % |
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