Mitch Marner gets to be ‘Mitchie’ after leaving Maple Leafs for Golden Knights originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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His birth certificate says Mitchell Marner. Most NHL websites say Mitch Marner.
His new head coach with the Vegas Golden Knights, John Tortorella? He calls him “Mitchie.”
And really, if there’s anything that sums up the entire change in vibes for Marner this season, it’s that.
With the Maple Leafs, he had to be Mitch.
With the Golden Knights, he can be Mitchie.
Marner was one of the biggest stories of the 2025 NHL offseason as he worked a sign-and-trade from Toronto to Vegas.
Now, he’s thriving in the playoffs, with 14 points through his first 10 games, including six goals.
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How ‘Mitchie’ Marner makes sense in Vegas
The reality is there’s a bit of a relaxed-ness for Marner after his departure from the pressure cooker that is Toronto.
The media market was never going to be the same anywhere else, certainly not on a hockey team that plays in a desert.
“I think he’s a hell of a hockey player. I think he’s very confident in what he brings,” Tortorella said after Marner scored a hat trick in Game 3 of their playoff series against the Ducks. “People give him s— all the time about playoffs and this and that. I don’t think it bothers him a lick. He just plays.”
The Maple Leafs got a lot of good hockey out of Marner, but his point production did genuinely decline in the playoffs.
Still, he was crucial to what Toronto did. The Leafs were much worse this season without him.
Now, all the Maple Leafs get to do is watch as Marner puts on a postseason show.