William Nylander fires back at critics of Mitch Marner.

There has been a ton of criticism during the offseason directed at Vegas Golden Knights star forward Mitch Marner, specifically from the city of Toronto, but now one of his former teammates has gone out of his way to speak out in his defense.

On Friday, during the National Hockey League's European media tour, Maple Leafs star forward William Nylander pushed back on the notion that Marner had already made up his mind about leaving the team before the season had even wrapped up.

"Not sure where that stuff comes from, but I don’t think he was ever thinking of leaving ahead of time," said Nylander as per NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. "I actually asked him during the season and he said he was concentrating on Toronto. I didn’t want to press him on that and let him be because it was obviously on his mind, but his play was focused on helping us. Then I asked him after the season and he wasn’t sure."

The issue of course is that Marner himself made statements that appear to contradict the narrative that Nylander is attempting to put forward. Marner made headlines when he revealed that he had spoken to his teammates on the Maple Leafs about the possibility of leaving to Las Vegas.

"The living arrangements from talking to [Max] Pacioretty and [Ryan Reaves] Reavo just through the last couple weeks, it seemed like everything was a pretty good fit for my wife and I and our new son," said Marner of his decision to join the Golden Knights.

Nylander added that it will be difficult to move on without Marner but, despite the challenge it will present, that the team is focused on making sure they come out ready to compete this upcoming season.

"It’s tough seeing him go but I’m so happy for him and his family," added Nylander. "He got to pick where he went so, in that aspect, I’m happy for him. We’re going to miss him a lot but that’s just the business of the sport. That’s the way it is. So we’ve got to regroup as a team and figure out a way to keep winning games."

I get the sense that most fans in Toronto are more than ready to move forward as well, and thankfully training camps and the preseason are just right around the corner.