BRAMPTON, Ont. — Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has made his first public the comments on Mitch Marner’s departure from the team for the Vegas Golden Knights. Matthews spoke ahead of the team’s Hockey Night In Brampton event at the CAA Centre on Wednesday.

“We'll obviously miss him. He's a great friend, great teammate,” Matthews said. “That's kind of the business side of it. That's tough, but obviously I wish him nothing but the best, and yeah, we've just got to keep it moving”.

The Maple Leafs completed a sign-and-trade with the Golden Knights on June 30 in exchange for forward Nicolas Roy. The deal ended Marner's nine-season run with his hometown club, ending a season-long speculation regarding the star player's future. Marner and Leafs forward Max Domi co-captained one of the teams during the 'Hockey Night In Brampton' event last year.

The charitable event, which Matthews was taking part in alongside Leafs teammate Chris Tanev, raised $14 million in 2024 for the William Osler Health System. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is hoping Matthews and Tanev’s involvement will help break that record number.

“A lot of guys have come through and played in this and it’s just special to give back to the community,” Matthews said.

Maple Leafs forward John Tavares captained one of the team's in 2023. The day of the event coincided with Matthews signing a four-year, $53 million extension with Toronto.

With Marner gone, there’s some ongoing debate as to who will take his place on Matthews's line at camp, which opens up one month from now. Matthews had a career-low 33 goals in a season where he had been dealing with an undisclosed injury. 

He described his health as "good."

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