SeaOfBlue
The Passion That Unites Us All
- Aug 1, 2013
- 35,591
- 16,773
I think one guy I absolutely cannot wait to see in the NHL is Mason Marchment. He is the exact type of player our team needs so badly. He's like a poor mans version of Tom Wilson but on our 4th line he can provide much needed grit and has a very good scoring touch to boot.
Leafs can potentially ice a very marlie heavy (former and current) lineup next year and look amazing.
Kapanen - Matthews - Bracco
Hyman - JT - Mitch
Johnsson - Kadri - Willie
Moore - Goat - Marchment
Petan
Rielly - Dermott
Muzzin - Zaitsev
Sandin - Liljegren
Rosen - Borgman
Fred
Sparky
Out:
Marleau
Brown
Gardiner
Ennis
Marincin
Holl
Hainsey
The following season or even as soon as next season, we can graduate the likes of Brooks, Engvall and Timashov, Borgman.
Marchment has not shown nearly enough to warrant an NHL opportunity. Marchment, at best, can become a slightly better offensively, but far less physical, version of Matt Martin right now. Now consider Matt Martin: his physical play is the only thing keeping him in the NHL right now. Adding a little bit of extra offensive skill is still not enough to really make him warrant keeping on a roster if he did not have that physical presence. Marchment is physical, but it is nowhere near what his father or even Martin brings to the table, and it is not enough to make up for the fact that he really does not have any special defensive, offensive or skating skills (if they are even NHL level in the first place).
The nice thing about Marchment is that he could be useful on the Marlies for at least next year, and there is no reason why he could not stick in the organization beyond that if he continues to prove to be a valuable AHL player and mentor for younger players. If nothing else, he can be a model of how far hard work can take you, even when the odds are against you. However if he wants any chance at an NHL career, or at least a sustainable one, he's going to need to really emphasize his physical play, become far more consistent offensively and hone those offensive flashes into a PPG performance next year (or at least close to it, which should not be unreasonable given the role he should be getting), and improve his defensive game so he can be used there. If he could PK, or at least be relied upon in defensive/shutdown situations on a 4th line, on top of a physical forechecking game that could him net 15-20 points a year and wear other teams out (or even scare them), then he could stick in the NHL. Think a bigger Alex Burrows, whose NHL career did not start until 25 (so essentially, next year for Marchment). However, Marchment is at least a few steps away (in all areas of his game) before reaching anywhere close to that level.