Mitch Marner Returns to Toronto-And the Boos Are Already Waiting
Mitch Marner is about to walk into Scotiabank Arena wearing different colors for the first time in his NHL career-and he won’t be greeted with polite applause. He’ll be met with a storm of boos, and honestly, he probably knows it’s coming.
Despite what some players say, they hear the noise. Marcus Foligno, now with the Minnesota Wild, put it plainly: “Everyone says, ‘Oh, I don’t hear it,’ but you do hear the boos.”
And Marner? He’s about to get the kind of reception that sticks with you.
On Friday night, the Toronto native makes his return to the city he grew up in-not as the hometown hero he once was, but as a visiting member of the Vegas Golden Knights. And after everything that’s gone down, it’s shaping up to be one of the most hostile homecomings in recent memory.
From Hometown Hero to Scapegoat
Marner’s story was supposed to be the stuff of legend. Local kid gets drafted by the Maple Leafs, becomes a star, helps lead the team to playoff glory.
But the script flipped somewhere along the way. Despite making the playoffs in nine straight seasons, the Leafs only managed two series wins during Marner’s tenure.
And when the postseason lights got brighter, his game too often dimmed.
In 70 playoff games with Toronto, Marner scored just 13 goals. In seven win-or-go-home games, he didn’t score once.
Zero goals, two assists. For a player making nearly $11 million a year, those numbers became hard to ignore-and easy to target.
The tension with fans didn’t start with the on-ice struggles, though. It began back in 2019 during a drawn-out contract negotiation.
Marner held firm, refusing to budge on term or dollars. He signed a six-year deal worth nearly $10.9 million annually, making him one of the highest-paid players in the league.
While he had every right to negotiate for what he believed he was worth, the optics didn’t sit well with a fanbase desperate for playoff success and frustrated by years of underachievement.
Then came the 2023 playoffs. Down 3-0 in a series against Florida, Marner dismissed the criticism swirling around the team: “We don’t care what you guys say.”
The Leafs bowed out in five games. In 2024, he was caught on camera in a heated moment on the bench.
In 2025, with Toronto trailing 3-0 in a do-or-die Game 7, Marner-still dry-haired 35 minutes into the game-was seen yelling at his teammates to wake up. They lost 6-1.
These moments didn’t just hurt his reputation-they cemented it. Not as a villain, necessarily, but as a symbol of unfulfilled expectations.
A Cold Goodbye
When Marner left Toronto this past offseason in a sign-and-trade, it wasn’t exactly a shock. The writing had been on the wall.
The Leafs had offered extensions, but the relationship felt fractured beyond repair. And while he landed in Vegas-a team with championship pedigree-it didn’t take long for the emotions to follow him.
On January 15, when the Leafs played the Golden Knights in Vegas, a noticeable contingent of Maple Leafs fans made their presence felt. And they booed.
Loudly. That moment made it clear: whatever reception Marner thought he might get in Toronto, it wasn’t going to be warm.
“I think the great question was always what my expectations were [for Jan. 23], but now I think I know going in,” Marner said after that game.
Booing the Best
There’s an old quote from Reggie Jackson: “They don’t boo nobodies.” And there’s truth in that.
Fans don’t bother jeering players who don’t matter. Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe echoed that sentiment: “That’s reserved for special players and a compliment more than anything.”
But that doesn’t mean it feels good.
Foligno, who’s been through his fair share of fan reactions, says he’s felt the love and the hate. He was welcomed back warmly in Buffalo after his trade to Minnesota, but in Winnipeg?
Whole different story. He’s fought Jets captain Adam Lowry three times, including twice in a single game.
He even got suspended for kneeing Lowry during one of those scraps. So yeah, he’s not exactly on the Winnipeg welcome committee.
“The way I play, physically, there’s been some times where fans don’t take a liking to the physical play you bring,” Foligno said. “There’s been some run-ins with Winnipeg, there’s been some boos when you get shown on the Jumbotron.
It’s fun. It brings you into the game a little bit more.”
Max Domi, now with the Leafs, knows that feeling too. He’s been booed in junior, in Columbus, in Montreal-you name it. And he embraces it.
“They won’t boo you for nothing,” Domi said with a grin.
But here’s the thing-Marner isn’t that kind of player. He’s not a grinder.
He’s not a pest. He doesn’t drop the gloves or throw big hits.
He’s a finesse guy, a playmaker. And he’s never really seemed like someone who feeds off the hate.
If anything, it’s fair to wonder if it gets to him.
The Human Side
It’s easy to forget that Marner grew up in Thornhill, just a short drive from Scotiabank Arena. He was the kid who dreamed of wearing the blue and white.
And for a while, he lived that dream. But now, coming back to the rink he once called home, he’ll be met with jeers from the same fans who once chanted his name.
That’s got to sting.
And while some fans may still be bitter that he refused to waive his no-movement clause for a potential trade that would’ve brought Mikko Rantanen to Toronto last year, that’s not something he should be booed for. He had every right to protect his situation-especially with a pregnant wife at home.
But the rest? The playoff exits, the contract drama, the comments, the body language-it’s all fair game in the eyes of a passionate fanbase.
As Foligno put it: “When you’re booed, you automatically think that they hate you. But… they’re trying to get you off your game more than anything. You gotta think of it that way.”
That’s the challenge for Marner now. Can he block out the noise and play his game? Or will the weight of everything-the expectations, the history, the heartbreak-be too much?
We’ll find out Friday night. But one thing’s for sure: when Mitch Marner steps onto the ice at Scotiabank Arena, the noise will be impossible to ignore.