There’s no doubt that fans often held up Mitch Marner as the poster boy for the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ playoff failures. Now, Marner himself has opened up for the first time. He revealed that personal and family safety concerns helped lead to his exit from Toronto.
After nine years in the Blue & White, Marner left in free agency this summer, with a sign-and-trade to the Vegas Golden Knights.
In an honest interview with TSN’s Mark Masters, Marner essentially called the conduct of Toronto fans “unacceptable.”
“When your family’s safety is coming into question, especially having a new son, I don’t think it’s acceptable. Having full-time security… at your house for two weeks after the playoffs just to make sure no one’s coming to your house… It was a little unfortunate,” Marner said.
An ominous phone call led Marner to hire security
The Toronto native explained that he got an ominous call from his father-in-law the night the Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs. It was a particularly disappointing Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers in the second round.
“‘I just want to let you know we’ve got people sending us screenshots of a guy posting your address online, saying if people want to come pay us a visit and say their goodbyes in a quotation way… here’s the address,’” his father-in-law told him.
“The market’s very passionate… they love their team… I know it, I was born and raised there. But when your family’s safety comes into question… I don’t think it’s acceptable.”
Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, echoed the same concerns in another interview earlier this week.
‘Negativity’ and ‘Hate’ led Marner to leave Toronto
“At the end of every season, instead of being able to breathe and reset, he and the family were bracing for the storm,” said Ferris. “The negativity, the blame, the hate, it was directed at him and spilled over to people closest to him. There was a dangerous environment, and at times, police had to be involved…
“There was another occasion where there was a death threat, and we traced it to a kid in Oakville, and the police went… You’re always concerned. You can’t just say, ‘Ah, it’s just social media.’ Because if something happened, that would be the biggest regret you could ever have. So you’ve got to take every one of those seriously.”
Marner posted his first 100-point season last year. But it’s his playoff performance that was always under scrutiny during his time in Toronto. His sensational regular-season points-per-game average of 1.13 was never matched in his nine postseason series. In 70 playoff games, he had 13 goals and 63 points for 0.90 points per game.
On July 1, in the Leafs-Golden Knights sign-and-trade, Marner signed an eight-year, $96 million contract ($12M AAV) with Vegas. In return, the Leafs received third-line center Nic Roy.
All eyes (and plenty of security) will be watching closely on Jan. 23, 2026. That’s the date of Marner’s ‘homecoming’ to Toronto as a Golden Knight.
