The Vegas Golden Knights are finally landing their man, agreeing to a sign-and-trade deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday to acquire Mitch Marner. The deal includes an eight-year contract extension for Marner, per league sources.

Marner passes up the opportunity to test the free-agent market by agreeing to the extension, which will pay him $12 million per season.

Vegas traded center Nicolas Roy to the Maple Leafs in order to jump the queue and secure the All-Star winger, gaining the ability to lock him into a maximum-length contract in the process.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the deal.

Marner will now be under contract in Vegas through his 36th birthday.

The deal materialized after days of speculation about a trade involving Marner and multiple previous failed attempts by the Golden Knights to pick him up from Toronto. Those parties were also involved in discussions on a three-way deal with the Carolina Hurricanes around the March 7 trade deadline that would have brought Marner to Vegas, but that plan fell apart, according to league sources. Vegas engaged in Marner talks at least one other instance before then.

In landing Marner, the Golden Knights add a top-of-the-lineup superstar who thrives in all situations. He’s ranked among the top 10 NHL forwards in ice time per game each of the past six seasons, serving as a top-unit penalty-killer and power-play option while also skating on the Leafs’ top line.

“There’s not too many guys that can excel both as a power-play player and a penalty killer and five-on-five and three-on-three,” Team Canada coach Jon Cooper said of Marner during February’s 4 Nations Face-Off. “Mitch can do it all. I’ve watched this kid grow from when he was a young kid in pro hockey to what he is now.

“He just keeps getting better.”

Marner is also coming off a career-best season with 102 points, finishing as the NHL’s fifth-highest scorer.

The forward leaves the Leafs as one of the organization’s most accomplished players, sitting fifth on the team’s all-time scoring list with 741 points at age 28. He went No. 4 to his hometown team in the 2015 draft and became an immediate fan favorite because of his creativity and elite playmaking ability.

However, Marner also drew sharp criticism for the team’s inability to get over the playoff hump and started to chafe under that scrutiny.

It became clear he was considering a departure in free agency when he refused to engage in discussions on a contract extension with the Leafs last season. Last week, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving acknowledged to reporters that Marner was going to test the free-agent market.

NHL teams are increasingly looking to deal the rights of pending unrestricted free agents to a choice destination before the market opens. The Leafs sent a 2026 seventh-round pick and forward Max Ellis to the Dallas Stars last year to acquire Chris Tanev’s negotiating rights before signing him to a six-year deal. And the Tampa Bay Lightning dealt a 2025 third-round pick to Carolina for Jake Guentzel’s rights before signing him to a seven-year contract.

In dealing Marner, the Leafs at least managed to recoup a useful player, albeit one who plays a vastly different role than the one they’re losing.

Roy is an aggressive forechecking bottom-six center who is under contract for two more years at a $3 million cap hit. He had 15 goals and 31 points in 71 games with the Golden Knights last season.

(Photo: Steve Russell / Getty Images)