C Mitchell Marner - London Knights, OHL (2015, 4th, TOR) III

[Brock Radunske]

Claude Giroux would be a better player if he was 6'2".

Being 5'11" isn't going to stop Marner from being a great player, but his size is a drawback.

Domi is 200lbs. He has a frame Marner will never have. Size is more than one dimension. Players like Giroux are the exception. Larger centers just translate better. I don't know why fans get so defensive about this. Marner will be a great player, just not a center.

No one can argue that if you have two equally skilled players, you wouldn't take the bigger one 100% of the time.

I disagree with the assumption he won't be a center, though. I think it will be situational.
Nylander is looking like a lock for a top-6 center role and if the Leafs get a top-6 center in this draft or via trade/free agency, I could see Marner playing wing....but if not, then he will likely continued to be honed into a centerman

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

LOL. Is that the rule?

Wayne Gretzky RETIRED at 38 years old, at 6' and 185lbs. When he entered the league as an 18 year old, he was pretty much exactly Marner's height & weight. It didn't slow Wayne down too much.

Marner will fill out, and add the same inch or two in height, and 15-20lbs in weight that everyone else does. He'll be fine.

So Mitch marner is all of a sudden being compared to Wayne Gretzky????

 

[Brock Radunske]

So Mitch marner is all of a sudden being compared to Wayne Gretzky????

Just stop...

 

[Eye of Ra]

Best player not in the NHL

Not even close.

 

[Stats01]

So now apparently Giroux is the exception for smaller centers lol. Marner will gain 15-20 pounds in the next 2-3 years he'll be up to 185 he'll likely hit the 6 foot marker and this thread should be bumped so everyone who are insisting Marner will be a winger can be laughed at.

 

[Holymakinaw]

So Mitch marner is all of a sudden being compared to Wayne Gretzky????

Size wise.........of course. And Giroux. And Fleury. And Cammalleri. And St. Louis. And Keon. And Lindsay. And Richard. And Dionne. All smaller, skilled players. And there are MANY more examples.

It's utterly stupid to say that a kid who is 5' 11" and 161lbs at age 18, will be too small to play Centre or any other position in the NHL.

 

[Gargyn]

Not even close.

I would say its very close. Matthews might be ahead of him but thats about it...and i am a bruins fan.

 

[WilliamNylander]

Not even close.

Lmao @ this post.

You could make an argument for Nylander and Matthews being better but who else? He's clearly the best player in junior.

 

[Finnish your Czech]

Lmao @ this post.

You could make an argument for Nylander and Matthews being better but who else? He's clearly the best player in junior.

Radulov?

 

[Shesty31]

LOL. Is that the rule?

Wayne Gretzky RETIRED at 38 years old, at 6' and 185lbs. When he entered the league as an 18 year old, he was pretty much exactly Marner's height & weight. It didn't slow Wayne down too much.

Marner will fill out, and add the same inch or two in height, and 15-20lbs in weight that everyone else does. He'll be fine.

You cant make that comparison, Gretzky was a generational talent.. size means nothing to a player like him.

Marner needs to bulk up to be elite at the next level, but I have no doubt he will, so nothing to worry about.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Lmao @ this post.

You could make an argument for Nylander and Matthews being better but who else? He's clearly the best player in junior.

I think Strome is currently the best Jr. player.
He plays the central position and will likely be the number 1C for Canada at the World Jrs.

Him and Marner will battle at the top of the leaderboard all year again. One is the 1C, Captain and leader - the other is a more of the 'elite' complimentary on a stacked team.

Getzlaf vs P.Kane. Both mean a helluva lot, one means a little bit more. (I am not comparing playing style, just their role)

 

[WTFMAN99]

I think Strome is currently the best Jr. player.
He plays the central position and will likely be the number 1C for Canada at the World Jrs.

Him and Marner will battle at the top of the leaderboard all year again. One is the 1C, Captain and leader - the other is a more of the 'elite' complimentary on a stacked team.

Getzlaf vs P.Kane. Both mean a helluva lot, one means a little bit more. (I am not comparing playing style, just their role)

Strome needs to deliver in the clutch.

He had a really disappointing playoffs for Erie last year.

 

[The Podium]

Lmao @ this post.

You could make an argument for Nylander and Matthews being better but who else? He's clearly the best player in junior.

Radulov, Kovalchuck, a few other in the KHL, SHL, AHL. He's great and probably one of the best prospects outside of the NHL but there are many players that are better than him right now.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Strome needs to deliver in the clutch.

He had a really disappointing playoffs for Erie last year.

He was - whole new chapter this year.
Think he has what it takes to be a big contributor in the OHL/worldjrs.

The playoffs will be fun to watch this year - once again it looks like it will be a dog fight in the west. Could see another team slide their way to the finals, on a less bumpy road -from the east. Will be a real test for guys like Marner/Strome/Bracco/... in the midwest.

 

[Incetardis]

As a center you need to support the play in the corners, at 160 hes just to slight.

Which is why he's more likely going to end up being an RW/C a la Patrick Kane. They're basically the same body type and with that high of a skillset I'm not too worried about his physique

 

[buttman*]

So Mitch marner is all of a sudden being compared to Wayne Gretzky????

After reading the post. Yes. His height and weight are being compared.

Why do you waste your time trying to distort what others are saying? The use of question marks and hand clapping is just....

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

Size wise.........of course. And Giroux. And Fleury. And Cammalleri. And St. Louis. And Keon. And Lindsay. And Richard. And Dionne. All smaller, skilled players. And there are MANY more examples.

It's utterly stupid to say that a kid who is 5' 11" and 161lbs at age 18, will be too small to play Centre or any other position in the NHL.

I never said "will be" i said is currently. After watching him i noticed that he ends up falling over when hes caught in a puck battle along the boards. My only point was that he needs to do some more growing before he can take the physicality of the NHL without risking injury.

Watch back the OHL vs Russia game and focus on when Marner gets caught and engaged along the boards. We need to look at Marner as a whole and find out what he needs to perfect in order to become the best possible player he can be. There is electricity in his game, however there are also imperfections which is why he went 4th instead of 1st,2nd or 3rd.

 

[Holymakinaw]

You cant make that comparison, Gretzky was a generational talent.. size means nothing to a player like him.

Marner needs to bulk up to be elite at the next level, but I have no doubt he will, so nothing to worry about.

Sure I can. Marner is a dominant young player, who is on the smaller side. It doesn't slow him down in the slightest. He's killing everyone out there.

And if you'd care to read........I listed a bunch more names a few posts later, of OTHER smaller players not named Wayne Gretzky, who excelled in the NHL.

The point is, lots and lots and LOTS of guys can do it.

 

[Holymakinaw]

I never said "will be" i said is currently. After watching him i noticed that he ends up falling over when hes caught in a puck battle along the boards. My only point was that he needs to do some more growing before he can take the physicality of the NHL without risking injury.

Watch back the OHL vs Russia game and focus on when Marner gets caught and engaged along the boards. We need to look at Marner as a whole and find out what he needs to perfect in order to become the best possible player he can be. There is electricity in his game, however there are also imperfections which is why he went 4th instead of 1st,2nd or 3rd.

LOL. You don't know what you're talking about.

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

Sure I can. Marner is a dominant young player, who is on the smaller side. It doesn't slow him down in the slightest. He's killing everyone out there.

And if you'd care to read........I listed a bunch more names a few posts later, of OTHER smaller players not named Wayne Gretzky, who excelled in the NHL.

The point is, lots and lots and LOTS of guys can do it.

Take your leaf goggles off for two seconds. No one is saying he cant. All of those players you listed, had to work on things to become the best players they can be. Marner is going to be exceptional, but you cannot be blind to the fact that he has things to work on. WHICH is primarily why hes not in the NHL right now.

 

[XX]

Clearly you know better than the man that drafted this kid in two different leagues and watched his career more closely than anyone else.

Those would be reasons that would blind him to criticism, not waive them away. That's the Kevin Lowe "I know something about winning" school of thought. It means nothing. If you actually look at players that produce at a high level in junior and then get drafted, there's a strong correlation between size and success at the NHL level.

Marner should be an effective NHLer, but anyone trying to downplay the size issue is really just ignoring a large pile of evidence for the sake of wearing team colored glasses. He has a very slight frame and he'll be lucky if he gets his playing weight up to NHL standards. Like it or not, at that size, there are going to be some things he just flat out can't do or excel at.

 

[WTFMAN99]

He was - whole new chapter this year.
Think he has what it takes to be a big contributor in the OHL/worldjrs.

The playoffs will be fun to watch this year - once again it looks like it will be a dog fight in the west. Could see another team slide their way to the finals, on a less bumpy road -from the east. Will be a real test for guys like Marner/Strome/Bracco/... in the midwest.

I'm more then willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was warming up to the idea of picking him and then as I watched the final few games in the regular season along with the playoffs, I was so surprised how poorly Strome was doing.

New year though and of course 17-18 year old kids will improve.

 

[Apotheosis]

Personally, I would rather Marner play a Patrick Kane type role as a winger, just to overload that top 6. Get another Centre in the draft or in the crazy chance that we get Stamkos we can roll with Stamkos-Nylander as our top two centres and put Nylander on one of their wings while developing the rest of the guys.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Those would be reasons that would blind him to criticism, not waive them away. That's the Kevin Lowe "I know something about winning" school of thought. It means nothing. If you actually look at players that produce at a high level in junior and then get drafted, there's a strong correlation between size and success at the NHL level.

Marner should be an effective NHLer, but anyone trying to downplay the size issue is really just ignoring a large pile of evidence for the sake of wearing team colored glasses. He has a very slight frame and he'll be lucky if he gets his playing weight up to NHL standards. Like it or not, at that size, there are going to be some things he just flat out can't do or excel at.

You do realize he states his limitations in that his stats are skewed due to the inherent bias against small players up until very recently, not to mention his sample size includes the age of the goons where you can score ".25 PPG" and carve out a long career as an enforcer.

If you continue reading it mentions Marner and McDavid together saying that they're can't miss and go against his whole post

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Take your leaf goggles off for two seconds. No one is saying he cant. All of those players you listed, had to work on things to become the best players they can be. Marner is going to be exceptional, but you cannot be blind to the fact that he has things to work on. WHICH is primarily why hes not in the NHL right now.

Lol are we reading the same thread?