When Mitch Marner made his first public comments as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, he mentioned speaking with former Toronto Maple Leafs teammates Ryan Reaves and Max Pacioretty about their experiences with living arrangements in the city during the final weeks of June. This revelation upset some Maple Leafs fans, who felt Marner had been disengaged for weeks. While perhaps not as infuriated as they were upon discovering Marner spoke to current Vegas Golden Knights players in February while competing for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, fans were still displeased.
Reaves, a guest on the Leafs Morning Take podcast with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill, addressed the criticism he was receiving. He explained his perspective on the situation:
“Besides the fact that I already knew I was getting shipped off, let's leave that aside. Mitchy was hitting free agency, right? And I think that was pretty public knowledge. I'm very close with Mitchy I became very close with him over the years, the last few years. And he asked me my opinion about Vegas. I played here for four years. I lived here all summer because I love the city. What do you want me to do? You want me to lie to him because I'm still technically signed with Toronto? That's my boy. I'm not going to steer him wrong.”
Just one day before his trade to the San Jose Sharks earlier this month, Reaves also commented on the Toronto market on the Cam & Strick podcast with Cam Janssen and Andy Strickland, expressing surprise at how quickly fans turned on the team during challenging moments in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Reaves further elaborated on his reasons for living in Vegas and the distinctions between that market and Toronto's.
Reaves elaborated on the differences between the markets while further emphasizing he was just helping a friend on Monday.
“I loved my time here (in Vegas). I enjoyed every second of it. I think it's a great place to live. You have the weather, you have the city. It's a little more toned down than Toronto in relation to the fans and how much pressure there is there. I'm not going to lie to him about that. And I wasn't trying to draw him away from Toronto. I was just being honest to one of my boys. I don't really care what the people say about that. I wasn't doing anything shady or trying to hurt the Toronto Maple Leafs. I was just being a friend to Mitchy.”
Reaves was traded to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenseman Henry Thrun, one day after his appearance on the Cam & Strick podcast.
Drafted fourth overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2015 NHL Draft, Marner departed the club after nine seasons with his hometown team in a sign-and-trade deal with the Vegas Golden Knights that brought Nicolas Roy in return. Marner signed an eight-year, $96 million contract and departed Toronto as the franchise's fifth all-time leading point-getter with 741 points (221 goals and 520 assists).
(Top image credit Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)
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