Somehow getting lost in the sludge of lackluster free agent signings during the 2025 NHL offseason was a massive trade before eligible players began putting pen to paper.
Star forward Mitch Marner was sent from his long-time home in Toronto to the desert of Las Vegas where he signed an eight-year, $96 million deal to become the newest member of the Golden Knights. The 28-year-old long-time Maple Leaf, who had a career-high 102 points last season, yielded his former team's centerman Nicolas Roy in the exchange.
The trade came when Marner and Toronto came to an impasse on their own contract extension negotiations and the former wanted a change of scenery. That story sounded all too familiar to Marner's new teammate Jack Eichel.
"Having went through the situation of leaving an organization in the city and having a fresh start in Vegas, I think I can relate, to a point, to some of the things he's going through," Eichel told The Hockey News on Tuesday. "I think he's obviously had his own situation, and however that ended, I'm sure he's super excited to have a fresh start and be in a place like Vegas, and I know he'll excel."
Mitch Marner's new teammate can relate to tough trade and change of scenery
Eichel was sent from the Buffalo Sabres, the team that drafted him just two selections ahead of Marner in the 2015 NHL Draft, to Vegas during the 2021 season in a similar situation.
The pair will be a formidable duo to place on a top line for the Golden Knights, who are looking to reclaim the Stanley Cup after reaching the league's mountain top in 2023.
Eichel is coming off a stellar 2024-25 season, which saw him log career-bests in points (94) and assists (66). The 28-year-old earned his fourth All-Star bid, and finished fifth in voting for both the Hart and Selke awards. He can't wait to get to work with his new teammate.
"Obviously, [he's an] incredible signing in addition to our team, world-class player and somebody whose game I really admire and respect," Eichel continued. "Somebody who can create so much and do so much in different areas of the game. Had some brief conversations with Mitch, and everyone that I've spoken to that knows him, that's been around him, has the best of things to say about him. So we're super excited to have him in Vegas."
Perhaps they'll be able to bond over their shared experiences. That might make for a deadly good combo when it comes to chemistry. The Golden Knights once defeated the Florida Panthers to claim the NHL crown. They may now have the missing piece to topple the back-to-back champs and bookend a golden era of championship-caliber talent in the league.