Mitch Marner has faded from the conversation in Toronto, and that says a lot

The saga of Mitch Marner came to an end this past summer in Toronto and it seems like he's finally become an afterthought; at least in the eyes of the media.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Mitch Marner to the Vegas Godlen Knights the day before free agency opened up this summer, it ended the tenure of a player who was arguably one of the best players to ever lace up for the blue and white.

Though it ended on a contentious note, there is no doubt that Marner made an impact of the Maple Leafs and their fanbase (for better or worse).

But now that he's settling into things over in Sin City, the Maple Leafs are doing just fine without him. Recording points in 10 straight games while sporting an 8-0-2 record in that span; the team is doing just fine without Marner.

Toronto's tired of Marner talk, ready to move on

With all the talk about how the Maple Leafs would manage without Marner, it seems that things are going a-okay for Toronto and it looks like the team has firmly moved on.

If they haven't, at least the Toronto fanbase seemingly has.

TSN's OverDrive panel discussed Marner's upcoming game vs. Toronto and the trio came to the conclusion that the forward's time in Toronto is a footnote and the team is looking ahead to the future without him with Brian Hayes taking the lead:

The timing is fascinating. It's the first time in a long time, they're winning and they're finally coming back from injuries...Marner's faded in the market.

There was so much talk earlier when they were struggling 'Marner this, Marner that.' Mitch is going to come back into the picture but people are like 'Who cares, enough. We don't want to talk about it anymore.'

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Marner's clash with Toronto going to have all eyes on both sides

Although Toronto had their point streak snapped on Tuesday after a 6-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth, the team is still riding a wave of confidence and one game; one where they had minimal rest, isn't going to hurt them.

Vegas is going to be on the end of a back-to-back on Thursday and it'll be Toronto's time to capitalize and all eyes will be on Marner.

Will he line up against Auston Matthews down the middle? Does he face off against John Tavares? Do the Maple Leafs get a little extra aggressive with their former superstar?

These are all plausible scenarios and it'll be interesting to see how Marner reacts to playing against his old teammates and whether he still harbors any negativity towards the team.

Don't expect Maple Leafs fans to be quiet either way however. If Marner has a stinker then you'll likely hear a lot of criticism thrown his way, but if he torches his old squad; then the vitriol turns back towards Toronto.

Either way you slice it, Thursday's game is going to be one of the most anticipated games of the season with all eyes on Marner and how he'll react to playing against the only team he had ever known in the NHL.

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