Mitch Marner Reflects on His Emotional Goodbye to Auston Matthews

With Mitch Marner's interview opening up a lot of eyes to his tenure in Toronto, there was a lot of backlash directed towards the Marner camp however some fans are realizing that perhaps they take things too far at times, and might need to reassess how they show their passion.

It was easy for Marner to leave town, though it seems like he was committed until he felt he couldn't give anything anymore and while when that happened is up for debate; it's something better left in the past.

What wasn't easy for Marner was to let his sidekick and teammate Auston Matthews know he was heading out of town, and explained it wasn't the easiest talk to have with his close friend:

While he may have been emotional with Matthews, fans would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of that emotion that wasn't directed towards them or his teammates.

But you can't deny that playing together for a decade doesn't create a special bond between the two and say what you will about Marner, there is something about playing beside someone every game for years; closeness is inevitable.

Marner was drafted 4th overall by the team in 2015, meanwhile Matthews was the 1st overall pick in 2016; and since then the two have been synonymous. Joining William Nylander with John Tavares a short time later; the Core Four era was born and destined for success.

That success came in the form of several fantastic regular seasons and even an Atlantic title, but it was anything but come playoff time. They ended up advancing to the second round twice, both times being sent packing by the Panthers.

A lot of the criticism came on Marner for his inability to perform when it matters, though he wasn't the only culprit, but he certainly made his voice the loudest when faces with that criticism.

Combined, they had 1,468 points (622 goals, 846 assists) in the regular season (1,286 games) but only put up 122 points in 138 games in the playoffs; they were a shell of their normal selves and it cost the team.

So it might have been hard for Marner to tell his old running mate that he was leaving, but don't think he found it hard to leave in general.