Maple Leafs announce 2025-26 schedule with date set for Mitch Marner's return to Toronto

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Get those blue Sharpies out and circle Jan. 23, 2026, on your calendar, Leafs Nation.

On that Friday night, Mitch Marner will make his return to Scotiabank Arena for the first time since becoming a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

It will be lone visit in the 2025-26 regular season by Marner, who sits fifth in Maple Leafs franchise scoring with 741 points.

The only other way Marner would play at Scotiabank Arena next season would be if the Golden Knights and Leafs met in the Stanley Cup final — but we would hate to get too far ahead of ourselves.

The Leafs’ 2025-26 regular season gets underway on Oct. 8, when they play host to the Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs’ following game is their first road game, on Oct. 11 in Detroit against the Red Wings.

The Leafs will make their only visit to Vegas on Jan. 15.

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How Marner will be received when he steps on to the ice at Scotiabank Arena in colours other than the Leafs’ blue and white will be fascinating to witness, considering the way his decade with the organization ended.

Marner, picked fourth overall by the Leafs in 2015 before he was returned to the London Knights for a final season in the Ontario Hockey League, didn’t want to talk contract with the Leafs throughout last season as free agency on July 1 loomed.

An attempt by Leafs general manager Brad Treliving to trade Marner didn’t result in a successful conclusion — he refused, as was his right, to waive his no-move clause in March that would have helped facilitate a trade with Vegas and Carolina and would have brought Mikko Rantanen to Toronto.

Once the season ended with yet another disappointing conclusion to the playoffs, Marner was non-committal when asked about his hockey future, though it quickly became clear that he would not be re-signing with the Leafs.

Treliving was able to work out a sign-and-trade with Vegas, getting centre Nicolas Roy in return for Marner, who signed an eight-year, $96-million US pact ($12 million average annual value) with his new club.

When Marner spoke at his first news conference as a member of the Golden Knights, it became obvious that his interest in Vegas wasn’t something that happened just in the preceding few days.

Marner’s playoff production never matched what he did in the regular season and he became a source of great frustration within the fan base. We also note that, as of Wednesday, Marner has more than 634,000 followers on Instagram.

Other items of interest in the Leafs’ schedule:

• Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and the rest of the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers will be in Toronto on Jan. 6 and April 11. The Leafs, eliminated by the Panthers in seven games in the second round in May, are at Florida on Dec. 2 and Feb. 26.
• Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers will make their lone visit to Toronto on Dec. 13.
• Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will be in Toronto on Nov. 3 and Dec. 23. The latter game is the Leafs’ last before the Christmas break and will start at 4 p.m.
• Alex Ovechkin will look to build on his NHL record for most career goals, currently at 897, when the Washington Capitals make their only visit on April 8. It also might be the last chance to see Ovechkin, who could retire after the season, play in Toronto.
• Leafs fans will have to wait to get their first live look at defenceman Matthew Schaefer, the first pick in the 2025 draft by the New York Islanders. The Isles play in Toronto once, on March 17.
• If you’re among those who wonder what might have been regarding prospect Fraser Minten, your lone chance to watch him at Scotiabank Arena will be on Nov. 8, which marks the Boston Bruins’ only visit. That’s provided Minten — traded to Boston in March for defenceman Brandon Carlo — cracks the Bruins roster, though he should. The game against the Bruins is the first of a back-to-back home set for the Leafs on Hall of Fame induction weekend, as the Carolina Hurricanes will be the visitors on Nov. 9.
• The Battle of Ontario doesn’t resume until Dec. 27, when the Ottawa Senators are in Toronto for the first meeting between the clubs since the Leafs ousted the Sens in the first round this past spring. The Sens also will be at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 28, while the Leafs visit Ottawa on March 21 and April 15. The latter is Toronto’s final game of the regular season.
• The Leafs have a rare Sunday home game with a 2 p.m. start on Jan. 25 against the Colorado Avalanche.
• The Leafs’ last home game is on April 13 against the Dallas Stars.
• The longest home stand is five games and the Leafs will have three of those stretches. The longest road stretch is six games, of which the Leafs will have two.
• The Leafs’ last game before the Olympic break will be on Feb. 3 in Edmonton. They will resume play on Feb. 25 at Tampa Bay. The official break is from Feb. 6-Feb. 24.
• The Leafs will have 15 back-to-back sets, with their first coming on Oct. 13 and 14 at home against Detroit and Nashville, respectively.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun