The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired winger Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for center Nicolas Roy, the club officially announced Tuesday morning.
As part of the sign-and-trade agreement, Marner inked an eight-year extension with an average annual value of $12 million.
Marner was originally drafted fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, just two picks behind Jack Eichel, who is expected to center Marner for the next eight years.
The 28-year-old possesses exceptional creativity and playmaking ability and has an impressive 221 goals and 741 points in 657 career games, all with Toronto. Marner is coming off a career-high 102-point campaign after lighting the lamp 27 times and adding 75 helpers, also a personal best.
Despite his skill, however, Marner’s time in Toronto was turbulent, primarily due to the team’s inability to win in the playoffs. The Maple Leafs won just two series during Marner’s tenure and did not advance past the second round, defeating Tampa Bay in the first round in 2023 (which snapped a streak dating back to 2004) and Ottawa in round one this past season.
Marner’s playoff compete level on both sides of the puck has been a frequent topic of scrutiny over the years, most notably his casual coverage during David Pastrnak’s series-clinching overtime goal in Game 7 in 2024. Marner jumped onto the ice and allowed Pastrnak to skate past him and beat Ilya Samsonov to end Toronto’s season.
Marner also has seen a dropoff in production in the playoffs, particularly in key games.
In Games 5, 6 and 7 throughout his postseason career, Marner has scored a total of one goal. It came back in 2018 in Game 6 against Boston, a series the Maple Leafs lost in seven games.
In Games 5, 6 and 7 in the seven seasons since, Marner has recorded zero goals and seven assists in 21 combined contests, including nine Game 5’s, seven Game 6’s and five Game 7’s. He has two career assists in Game 7’s, including one in the 2018 series against Boston.
Marner’s most productive postseason performance came in 2023 when he collected 14 points in 11 games, and he was a point-per-game player in the 2025 playoffs with two goals and 13 points in 13 games. However, he managed two assists in Games 5-7 (five combined games) this year and has never scored more than three goals in a single postseason.
That being said, Marner’s skill is undeniable.
Mitch Marner is the only man on the planet who can do this
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) June 28, 2025
pic.twitter.com/J7WHLmyl1k
Vegas management is betting that the change of scenery and winning culture will maximize Marner’s superstar potential and help him become a big-game player.
This shift is Marner at his best: ridiculous creativity, 150% effort, and never giving up on a play pic.twitter.com/eTBpx84VhZ
— g (@gilleafs) June 30, 2025
Heading the other way in the deal is Roy, who was originally part of the Erik Haula trade with Carolina back in 2019.
Roy wasn’t considered to be a significant asset at the time but went on to become a mainstay in the Vegas lineup. He ultimately donned the Vegas sweater in 362 games spanning six seasons in Sin City, and he played an especially critical role on Vegas’ fourth line during the club’s Stanley Cup run in 2023.
During that stretch, Roy recorded three goals and 11 points in 22 games, including two goals in the Stanley Cup Final. He leaves Vegas with 10 goals and 32 points in 79 postseason games to go along with 68 goals and 166 points in the regular season.
Perhaps his most memorable goal came in overtime of Game 4 against Montreal in the 2021 postseason when he beat Carey Price to knot the series up at 2-2.
Moving Roy allows Vegas to shed his $3 million cap hit, which will help accommodate Marner’s new deal.
Vegas added $3.429 million of cap space in Sunday’s Nicolas Hague trade with the acquisitions of defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and center Colton Sissons, who likely will help fill the void left by Hague and Roy, respectively.
The Golden Knights are currently $6.813 million over the cap, according to PuckPedia, though $8.8 million will be cleared by placing Alex Pietrangelo on long-term injured reserve.
The Golden Knights provided an official update on Pietrangelo on Monday, with statements from Pietrangelo and general manager Kelly McCrimmon confirming that Pietrangelo will step away from hockey to try to improve his overall quality of life. Though he did not announce his retirement, Pietrangelo indicated that his chances of returning are slim.
“The likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play, but I know this is the right decision for me and my family,” the statement said.
The 17-year-veteran is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, and his leadership and presence will be missed both on and off the ice.
According to SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman, Vegas tried to trade for Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson last week but was unable to complete a deal.
On Monday’s episode of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Friedman implied that negotiations with Calgary are ongoing. “I had people telling me [the Golden Knights] have not finished trying to do that,” he said. Andersson has one year remaining on his contract with an AAV of $4.55 million.
Marner’s new deal ($12 million AAV) will kick in when free agency opens on Tuesday. Teams are only permitted to spend 10 percent above the upper limit in the offseason, though the Golden Knights are no strangers to salary cap gymnastics.
But including Roy in the deal may have served another purpose, at least according to Friedman.
In his 32 Thoughts podcast on Sunday, Friedman speculated that Toronto was considering accusing Vegas of tampering, as teams are not permitted to speak with pending free agents prior to July 1 without owning their negotiating rights.
“It’s a time around the league where teams are extremely sensitive about [tampering], and, as a couple of GM’s told me on Saturday, they think the NHL is itching to try to make an example out of someone,” Friedman said. “Once again, I’m going to stress, I don’t have any proof that Vegas is guilty of anything, but if they make a deal with Toronto and send a good player or two to Toronto, I’m betting any chance the Maple Leafs file for tampering goes away. So all those reasons — getting to Marner [ahead of July 1], clearing cap space, Toronto gets good players, and eliminating any possibility of any tampering investigation, which is being whispered everywhere around the league — all of that goes away if this deal gets done. We’ll see. No promises. No assurances. That’s what I think is going on.”
If Friedman was correct, this deal should eliminate those concerns, which would allow the Golden Knights to focus on their other offseason needs.
The Golden Knights announced on Monday that the club extended qualifying offers to most pending restricted free agents, including Alexander Holtz, Cole Schwindt, Jonas Rondbjerg and Raphael Lavoie. Not included on that list is forward Ivan Morozov.
Free agency opens Tuesday at 9 a.m. PT.