When the Detroit Red Wings retired Sergei Fedorov's No. 91 on Monday it felt like a homecoming that was years in the making and long overdue, NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika said on a new episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast.
Although the successes of each player in his "home" market are different, Cotsonika discussed how interesting it will be to see the type of homecoming reception Mitch Marner will receive when he returns to Scotiabank Arena to play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 23.
Now with the Vegas Golden Knights, Marner will face the Maple Leafs at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, TSN4) for the first time since joining the Golden Knights via a sign-and-trade July 1, 2025. He grew up rooting for Maple Leafs as a young hockey player from the Greater Toronto Area and it's where he played the first nine seasons of his NHL career.
Cotsonika and podcast co-hosts Shawn P. Roarke and Dan Rosen discussed how the true test of Toronto fans and their feelings toward Marner will come next week. Like Fedorov leaving Detroit, Marner left Toronto on his own volition. Cotsonika, who covered Fedorov during his time with the Red Wings, recalled the now-Hockey Hall of Fame forward getting booed every time he touched the puck when he came back to Detroit with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim after the 2002-03 season.
But time has passed and Fedorov's No. 91 now hangs with the rest of the Red Wings' greats in Little Caesars Arena.
