C/RW Mitch Marner - London Knights, OHL (2015, 4th, TOR) VI

[nbwingsfan]

Outside of Auston Matthews, Marner is the best prospect not in the NHL.

One of the best junior seasons of all time IMO.

Not only that, every level the competition increased his points per-game increased. From the regular season, to the playoffs to the Memorial Cup.

When Marner flips the switch, very, very , very few players can keep up and we saw that on display many times this year.

When he flipped the switch in the elimination game against the Finns, he was the best player on the ice and it wasn't even close. When he flipped the switch against Erie, Strome couldn't keep up. When he flipped the switched in the memorial cup, none of the championship teams could contain him.

Matthews/Marner combo moving forward has all the makings to be the best duo in Leafs history.

Again he had an incredible season but there's no way this ranks anywhere close to one of the best all time.

It doesn't really sniff seasons players like Crosby, McDavid, Lemieux, Lafleur, Radulov, Locke, etc. Had. (Off the top of my head).

It's much closer to the Mantha/Drouin level of season. He wasn't that far ahead of his own teammates.

 

[Shwaguy*]

Again he had an incredible season but there's no way this ranks anywhere close to one of the best all time.

It doesn't really sniff seasons players like Crosby, McDavid, Lemieux, Lafleur, Radulov, Locke, etc. Had. (Off the top of my head).

It's much closer to the Mantha/Drouin level of season.

How many of those guys you mentioned were from the high-scoring/high-flying QMJHL days though?

 

[Shwaguy*]

Well I guess two of those guys are Crosby and Mario so doesn't matter with them.


But Radulov does benefit a lot from that when comparing his Junior season to Marner's imo

 

[Ash35]

Marner had 126 points last year only 116 this year he took a step back....nothing to someone like the great Guy Lafleur his last year in junior with the Memorial cup champion Quebec Remparts...62 GP 130 goals and 79 assists and 135 PIM....in the playoffs 14 GP 22 goals and 21 assists oh yeah he's a HOF and a 5 time Stanley Cup Champion and 560 goals.

He had a slightly better regular season ppg and a historical playoffs. That's called a step up.

 

[nbwingsfan]

How many of those guys you mentioned were from the high-scoring/high-flying QMJHL days though?

Two. And it doesn't really matter when you include how much a player like Lemieux dominated.

Doesnt take away how good his season was, it's just definitely not in conversation for best of all time.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Well I guess two of those guys are Crosby and Mario so doesn't matter with them.


But Radulov does benefit a lot from that when comparing his Junior season to Marner's imo

The scoring in the QMJHL was not much higher during his season than it was in the OHL this year if I remember correctly

 

[The Assclown]

Two. And it doesn't really matter when you include how much a player like Lemieux dominated.

Doesnt take away how good his season was, it's just definitely not in conversation for best of all time.

I would say it's in the conversation for the best of the last three decades.

 

[TMLeafs18]

The one thing I didn't notice until playoffs and the memorial cup was just how good he is on the penalty kill. He always seems to be in the right spot to make a play on the puck to cause turn overs and send it back down the ice. He is very responsible with keeping in the shooting lane on his side of the ice. He is also very good at knowing when to blow the zone which is what makes him so dangerous on the pk. All playoffs and during the tournament he was applying smart pressure and causing turnovers which just destroyed all momentum for the opposing teams pp. In the first RN game he and Dvorak were huge they both played huge minutes on the pk and held the Huskies at bay which ended up being a big reason they won that game.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Marner had 126 points last year only 116 this year he took a step back....nothing to someone like the great Guy Lafleur his last year in junior with the Memorial cup champion Quebec Remparts...62 GP 130 goals and 79 assists and 135 PIM....in the playoffs 14 GP 22 goals and 21 assists oh yeah he's a HOF and a 5 time Stanley Cup Champion and 560 goals.

His ppg was higher even in the regular season this year though, so not exactly a step back.

 

[lebdafor norris]

2nd overall.


Roast me if you want because of my fandom but he's better than the Finns in my mind.

Don Cherry would probably take Marner with the 1st overall pick, that Canadian factor gives him a huge edge over Matthews.

 

[Tuggy]

Marner had 126 points last year only 116 this year he took a step back....nothing to someone like the great Guy Lafleur his last year in junior with the Memorial cup champion Quebec Remparts...62 GP 130 goals and 79 assists and 135 PIM....in the playoffs 14 GP 22 goals and 21 assists oh yeah he's a HOF and a 5 time Stanley Cup Champion and 560 goals.

Corey Locke once scored 151 points in junior.

 

[Purity*]

Outside of Auston Matthews, Marner is the best prospect not in the NHL.

One of the best junior seasons of all time IMO.

Not only that, every level the competition increased his points per-game increased. From the regular season, to the playoffs to the Memorial Cup.

When Marner flips the switch, very, very , very few players can keep up and we saw that on display many times this year.

When he flipped the switch in the elimination game against the Finns, he was the best player on the ice and it wasn't even close. When he flipped the switch against Erie, Strome couldn't keep up. When he flipped the switched in the memorial cup, none of the championship teams could contain him.

Matthews/Marner combo moving forward has all the makings to be the best duo in Leafs history.

100% agree.

I'm also gonna say that he's better than the Laine/Pulju.

Come at me.

 

[TMLeafs18]

I can't wait to see Marner in the NHL. Since he played for London and hunter loves to run with his top guys he would have very long shifts where he would be forced to pick his spots and float at times to conserve energy for when he saw an opening. Babcock is going to have him on shorter shifts and that will let Marner go all out every time he touches the ice. There are times in his games in junior where I would get frustrated because he would be floating but I would have to remind myself that he was taking a long shift and had to be smart about the effort he put in. At least we all know his conditioning won't be a problem considering he was on the ice for half a game.

Overall excited to see him in the leafs uniform but very interested to see what his game will look like with shortened shifts and Babcock teaching him up.

 

[Woll Smoth]

Marner had 126 points last year only 116 this year he took a step back....nothing to someone like the great Guy Lafleur his last year in junior with the Memorial cup champion Quebec Remparts...62 GP 130 goals and 79 assists and 135 PIM....in the playoffs 14 GP 22 goals and 21 assists oh yeah he's a HOF and a 5 time Stanley Cup Champion and 560 goals.

Can't argue with this logic. Now apply it to every other prospect in the CHL and Marners season looks great again.

 

[nbwingsfan]

I would say it's in the conversation for the best of the last three decades.

How is it better than say Crosby's 163 pts in 62 and 31 in 13 playoffs games? Or McDavid's 120 in 48 and 49 in 20? Or Radulov's 152 in 62 and 55 in 23? Or Locke's 151 in 66? Riendeau and 126 points in 66 and 52 in 19 (29G).

These are just off the top of my head. He didn't even lead his team in scoring so it's really hard to call this the best season in the last 30 years. Again it's anot incredible season but much closer to a Mantha type season than a Crosby type. (Marner >>>>Mantha, just to be clear).

 

[smpo11]

Regardless of the exact rank, he had one of the more dominant 18 year old seasons in the CHL in the past decade.

Not as dominant as Crosby or McDavid, but excluding those generational talents you can make an argument for Marner being as dominant as anyone.

It was a hell of a season. It really couldn't have gone better for him.

 

[LeafGm]

Comparing point totals from one season to the next without taking games played into consideration doesn't give you any kind of useful comparison.

Here's a better look at Marner last year vs. this year:

Regular Season:

2014/15: GP 63, G 44, A 82, Pts 126, 2.00 PPG
2015/16: GP 57, G 39, A 77, Pts 116, 2.04 PPG

Playoffs:

2014/15: GP 7, G 9, A 7, Pts 16, 2.29 PPG
2015/16: GP 22, G 18, A 40, Pts 58, 2.64 PPG

Playoffs + Regular season:

2014/15: GP 70, G 53, A 89, Pts 142, 2.03 PPG
2015/16: GP 79, G 57, A 117, Pts 174, 2.20 PPG

No matter how you try and slice it, it's totally ridiculous for anyone to try and make the claim---with a straight face---that Marner took a "step back" this season.

 

[X66]

Again he had an incredible season but there's no way this ranks anywhere close to one of the best all time.

It doesn't really sniff seasons players like Crosby, McDavid, Lemieux, Lafleur, Radulov, Locke, etc. Had. (Off the top of my head).

It's much closer to the Mantha/Drouin level of season. He wasn't that far ahead of his own teammates.

I'm going to have to disagree here.

I think it's very important to look at the context here. The CHL(OHL/WHL/QMJHL) are different leagues, and different eras have different contextual factors.

How many players have won the CHL MVP, OHL MVP, OHL playoffs MVP, Memorial cup MVP? All in dominating fashion.

I believe Marner's Points per-game in the playoffs was the 2nd highest of all time for forwards that played more than 10 games(and were 19 or younger). The other player was McDavid.

He also had the highest points per game in Memorial Cup history.

This was a truly remarkable season, one for the ages.

Gotta give credit where credit is due.

 

[ginner classic]

100% agree.

I'm also gonna say that he's better than the Laine/Pulju.

Come at me.

Better than Laine? C'mon. Seriously?

Marner will be great but Laine is the best goal scoring prospect I can remember.

 

[nbwingsfan]

I'm going to have to disagree here.

I think it's very important to look at the context here. The CHL(OHL/WHL/QMJHL) are different leagues, and different eras have different contextual factors.

How many players have won the CHL MVP, OHL MVP, OHL playoffs MVP, Memorial cup MVP? All in dominating fashion.

I believe Marner's Points per-game in the playoffs was the 2nd highest of all time for forwards that played more than 10 games(and were 19 or younger). The other player was McDavid.

He also had the highest points per game in Memorial Cup history.

This was a truly remarkable season, one for the ages.

Gotta give credit where credit is due.

Oh abolsutely givino him credit as he without a doubt increased his stock and is looking like a future star, just hard to give him the title of best season ever when you have some players who have outscored him by 35+pts in the same era (on comparable or worse teams).

 

[stewpac]

Oh abolsutely givino him credit as he without a doubt increased his stock and is looking like a future star, just hard to give him the title of best season ever when you have some players who have outscored him by 35+pts in the same era (on comparable or worse teams).

If points were the only intangible in the game of hockey, you might be right. How many of those guys were on their teams top pk unit? If you take home every prize that's available what relevance is there in point totals. Bottom line is Leblanc and Dvorak didn't have better seasons than mitch or are better players. At the end of the day Mitch took home every prize for top player, his season was as good as any before him.

 

[Lehkonen4Calder]

If points were the only intangible in the game of hockey, you might be right. How many of those guys were on their teams top pk unit? If you take home every prize that's available what relevance is there in point totals. Bottom line is Leblanc and Dvorak didn't have better seasons than mitch or are better players. At the end of the day Mitch took home every prize for top player, his season was as good as any before him.

http://www.lfpress.com/2016/04/13/coin-flip-puts-marner-in-mvp-race

 

[Captain Timo]

http://www.lfpress.com/2016/04/13/coin-flip-puts-marner-in-mvp-race

BREAKING NEWS: A team makes an attempt to compliment two players rather than complimenting just one and causing some potential disparity! Shocking!

 

[stewpac]

http://www.lfpress.com/2016/04/13/coin-flip-puts-marner-in-mvp-race

This is only because London couldn't put two players names on the list if they could have mitch would have won most votes with devo coming in second.

 

[Kadri43*]

How is it better than say Crosby's 163 pts in 62 and 31 in 13 playoffs games? Or McDavid's 120 in 48 and 49 in 20? Or Radulov's 152 in 62 and 55 in 23? Or Locke's 151 in 66? Riendeau and 126 points in 66 and 52 in 19 (29G).

These are just off the top of my head. He didn't even lead his team in scoring so it's really hard to call this the best season in the last 30 years. Again it's anot incredible season but much closer to a Mantha type season than a Crosby type. (Marner >>>>Mantha, just to be clear).

Unless I am mistake, I think the poster said Marner's season should be in the conversation for the best season in the last three decades. That is not quite the same as claiming it was the best.