Mitch Marner Briefly Steps Away From the Maple Leafs Due to Incredible Family News

Mitch Marner and his fiancée, Stephanie Lachance, were both anticipating the birth of their first son, a little boy who finally arrived today.

The Maple Leafs winger and alternate captain is walking on air, both as a new father as well as for having helped Toronto defeat the Ottawa Senators in Round 1 of the playoffs.

The news of the couple's pregnancy was first disclosed on Instagram a few months ago, as Jake McCabe's wife, Gaby McCabe, posted a photo from Stephanie's baby shower.

The photo unveiled a blue-and-white card with "Oh boy, welcome Baby Marner" written on it, as well as cookies with themes of babies.

Stephanie also posted some of her personal photos, including an adorable photo of Mitch with her baby bump. The two, who first knew each other in their days in Markham, Ontario, married in the summer of 2023.

Drafted in 2015, Marner is today an NHL superstar with the Leafs with 741 points in his career, 221 goals, and 520 assists.

He is the latest addition to the Toronto dressing room hockey dads' club. His teammates and first-time dads are Simon Benoit and Morgan Rielly.

The older parents are McCabe, John Tavares, and Max Pacioretty, with Pacioretty already having five. Rielly's partner is Olympic gold medallist Tessa Virtue, who gave birth to their son McCormick in August 2024.

As much of a fun-lover as he was, Marner always had a soft spot in his heart for kids. Before his retirement, Patrick Marleau would have Marner come over with his four sons, with whom Mitch would be the elder brother of sorts.

Turning the focus over to hockey on the ice, the Maple Leafs play the Florida Panthers on Monday night to start Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.