Mitch Marner
- Thread starter LuncheonMeat
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herman
Well-known member
http://chumam.streamon.fm/listen-pl-1271
Radio hit with Marner's trainer, Dan Noble (since grade eight?!) where he talks about Marner's physical capabilities and the plan going forward as he develops.
According to Noble:
- crazy strength to weight ratio (backsquats 400 lbs at just under 170 lbs)
- tremendous body control
- picks up complex movements just by watching
Transcript: https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2017/07/26/leafs-links-noble-mitch-marner-pound-pound-one-strongest-players-nhl-montreal-signs-mark-streit-markovs-destination-air/
So basically, Marner is a cheetah.
Radio hit with Marner's trainer, Dan Noble (since grade eight?!) where he talks about Marner's physical capabilities and the plan going forward as he develops.
According to Noble:
- crazy strength to weight ratio (backsquats 400 lbs at just under 170 lbs)
- tremendous body control
- picks up complex movements just by watching
Transcript: https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2017/07/26/leafs-links-noble-mitch-marner-pound-pound-one-strongest-players-nhl-montreal-signs-mark-streit-markovs-destination-air/
So basically, Marner is a cheetah.
Redleaf
Active member
Call it jingoism if you want, but of the 3 new kingpins on this team, Marner is my favorite. I love the speed, skill, and deceptiveness. Of the three top guys in Matthews, Nylander and Mitch, I think Marner has more of the attributes generally associated with a typical underdog-type player with his smallish size, demeanour and non-athletic looks. Him being a Canadian kid just adds to the allure for me. And I tend to agree with those that feel his ceiling could be a lot higher than a lot of people think. Top 5 in the league isn't complete out of the realm. Of the 3, I'm expecting Marner to take the biggest step forward next season.
Highlander
Active member
I call my Fitbit, my Fatbit
I don't think anyone has brought this up - and no doubt there will be naysayers - but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it is Marner and not Nylander who gets moved to the number 2 center spot, with Kadri dropping to three.
People talk about the Bozak line now like it's the "third line" because Bozak is the 3rd slot centre, but really Marner and JVR are at least 2nd line wingers if not first.
So if Bozak gets moved at some point, Marner seems to be an equally good candidate to move to centre, probably better defensively as Nylander and an unbelievable playmakers. Perhaps, face-offs may be a challenge because of his size, but he is super smart and could even surprise there as well.
Maybe solving the forward lines looks like this eventually...
Marleau Matthews Nylander
JVR Marner Kapanen/Brown/Hyman
Komarov Kadri Kapanen/Brown/Hyman
Martin Moore Kapanen/Brown/Hyman
Soshnikov / Leivo / Johnsson (back ups if JVR or Komo gets moved)
Bracco first call up for right side
Brooks first call up for center
People talk about the Bozak line now like it's the "third line" because Bozak is the 3rd slot centre, but really Marner and JVR are at least 2nd line wingers if not first.
So if Bozak gets moved at some point, Marner seems to be an equally good candidate to move to centre, probably better defensively as Nylander and an unbelievable playmakers. Perhaps, face-offs may be a challenge because of his size, but he is super smart and could even surprise there as well.
Maybe solving the forward lines looks like this eventually...
Marleau Matthews Nylander
JVR Marner Kapanen/Brown/Hyman
Komarov Kadri Kapanen/Brown/Hyman
Martin Moore Kapanen/Brown/Hyman
Soshnikov / Leivo / Johnsson (back ups if JVR or Komo gets moved)
Bracco first call up for right side
Brooks first call up for center
Coco-puffs
New member
slapshot said:
Marner played very little Center in his career. Nylander has almost always played center, except for his first season in the AHL and first season and a half in the NHL. Coaches like to ease young players into the Center position at the pro level. Nylander played Center in Sweden almost exclusively, and has a year full-time in the AHL at center.
Their history suggests it would be very surprising if Marner moved to center when Bozak is gone instead of Nylander.
herman
Well-known member
slapshot said:
Echoing what Coco-puffs already said, we did discuss this briefly a couple of weeks ago.
That being said, Marner was the primary backchecker and distributor on his line last year, and in his last two seasons with the Knights because that's his wheelhouse. Nylander played a similar role on his line by virtue of his speed and relative position in the offensive zone set up (taking a few draws as well).
OZ forward deployment was more fluid than the labels implied as it was more volleyball-esque roles rather than positional: Digger - Passer - Shooter. Defensively and off the draw is where Left - Centre - Right actually 'mattered'.
Kin
New member
The difference between someone who has very good face-off numbers like Bozak and someone who has fairly bad face-off numbers like Matthews really only adds up to one and a quarter face-offs per game which really doesn't mean much on the offensive side of things.
I think there's a good argument to be made that you want someone who's really strong in the circle for defensive zone face-offs and PKing but the Leafs have that now with Moore so Bozak(who isn't great defensively) is largely superfluous in that regard.
I think there's a good argument to be made that you want someone who's really strong in the circle for defensive zone face-offs and PKing but the Leafs have that now with Moore so Bozak(who isn't great defensively) is largely superfluous in that regard.
Coco-puffs said:
Based on your post, I decided to Google Marner to see how much centre he had played. What I found was not what I had been looking for but actually more interesting.
Check out this link from two years ago. Perhaps this plan has not changed.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/mitch-marner-expects-to-play-centre-on-toronto-maple-leafs/
To me it makes sense for the reasons I already stated. Also, Nylander seems to be developing that chemistry with Matthews, so why mess with it. If I were Nylander, I think I'd be just as happy playing on the number 1 line with Matthews, racking up the points. Plus Babcock keeps saying he sees Matthews as "driving a line" and Marner as doing the same. Maybe Nylander could too, but I just have a hunch about it. I could be totally wrong, but I would not be surprised at all if it played out with Marner at centre, and this story makes it even more conceivable. Who knows what's really in the minds of Leafs management - except Leafs management.