Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights saw their season end with a Stanley Cup Final loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games, closing their best postseason run since they won the title in 2023.
After landing the former Toronto Maple Leafs winger last offseason, Vegas pushed through multiple rounds behind Marner’s production, with the forward scoring 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 22 games.
Marner finished the postseason leading all scorers during the playoffs in his first season with Vegas, but he was still lamenting the loss to the Hurricanes while speaking during the Golden Knights' year-end press conference.
“Obviously, the losing part sucks,” Marner said. “That’s probably going to stick with us for a long time, if not life.”
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Later in the press conference, Marner was asked about the comments he made at media day last August, when he discussed his exit from Toronto and his time with the Maple Leafs.
“When I said that, I think mental health is a super important thing to me. It really is,” Marner said. “I’ve been really trying to take care of my mental health probably for the last five years or so. I'm really thankful that I had some unbelievable teammates around me in Toronto that I was able to talk to and express myself.”
The 29-year-old spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Maple Leafs and became one of the team’s top producers while facing steady scrutiny during the franchise's postseason exits.
“There were some really dark moments there, that the thought of playing hockey was just really tough, honestly, in a lot of ways,” Marner said. “Just a dark kind of vibe, a dark hole in a way.”
Marner said support from Leafs teammates and his own family helped him navigate those stretches.
“I’m really thankful that I had some unbelievable teammates around me in Toronto that I was able to talk to and express myself,” Marner said.
Finally, Marner described how external pressure, particularly online, contributed to the strain. He sent a hopeful message to those dealing with similar situations.
“I think when you're in that mental blender, it puts a lot of stress on your body, on your mind,” Marner said. “You're up a lot of nights thinking about how you can be better and change things. You should never be afraid to talk about your emotions and talk about your fears and what you're going through
“I'm super thankful that I had a lot of people in my life that I could talk to and share things. It made me better.”
Marner finished his first season in Las Vegas with 80 points in 81 regular-season games, posting a plus-17 rating and reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in his career.
