Leafs’ Austin Matthews frustrated about frequency of questions about Mitch Marner

As the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights square off for the first time this season on Thursday, it doesn’t take a diehard hockey fan to recognize the narrative of the game: Mitch Marner’s first game against his old team.

With that, many questions regarding the former Leaf should have been expected by Toronto players, especially by his longtime teammate and friend Auston Matthews. But Matthews clearly has his limit, as after answering numerous questions regarding Marner for most of the morning skate, the Leafs captain was clearly ready to focus on the game.

Matthews spoke with TSN reporter Mark Masters after the warmup, and when asked about Marner and Matthews being the last two players on the ice and Marner sending a puck Matthews’ way, the Hart Trophy winner shot down the question.

Auston Matthews has had enough of the Mitch Marner chatter ahead of the Leafs/Golden Knights matchup… 👀 pic.twitter.com/guu5jJQwR9

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 16, 2026

“I didn’t look over,” said Matthews. “I think I’ve had enough of the Mitch questions for the day. Let’s just get ready for the game and go from there.”

Marner is in his first season with the Golden Knights after nine seasons with the Leafs. After several seasons of disappointing playoff exits and dealing with the toxic contingent of Leafs fans, Marner opted to move on from his time in Toronto and, after the Leafs and Golden Knights agreed to a sign-and-trade, he signed with Vegas for eight years at a cap hit of $12 million.

Neither Matthews or Marner have had ideal seasons in their first away from each other, as both have seen their production perform below their usual rates. Marner entered Thursday’s game with 11 goals and 36 assists for 47 points in 45 games, with his 1.04 points per game being his lowest rate since his sophomore season, although he has had to adjust to playing center full-time recently for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Matthews started the season on a really slow note, but has picked up the pace in recent weeks, entering the game with 22 goals and 15 assists for 37 points in 40 games.