Deep Dip: Mitchell Marner

A highly skilled
and intuitive offensive player whose game reading ability is off the
charts – able to dance all over the ice and make plays both forward and
backhand .. attacks the middle of the ice and is not afraid to go into
danger zones .. elusive in his approach, spinning off guys and simply
anticipating the game better than his peers .. displays an uncanny ability
to create even more room for himself when he is down low .. habitually
finds the best possible passing or shooting option – and deploying a hair
trigger release .. an excellent stickhandler, slippery when entering the
zone employing a series of head fakes with an upper body like a slinky – twisting and turning without losing stride or possession of the puck ..

Marner is elusive
and won’t rush to make just any play; he calculates his options and shows patience when in possession. Passes are creative and right onto the tape of his target. He somehow sees
unthinkable passing lanes and executes perfectly. Has a rocket of a shot that he uses to
deceive goaltenders and picks his spots with no trouble. Defensively, he uses this speed
to separate from checks and to catch his man on the back check to break up the play and
turn the puck back up ice. Positions himself well on the penalty kill and jumps on loose
pucks to clear the zone. He will slide over to pick up any missed checks and support on the sides of the zone, showing strong defensive awareness.

Marner had a fantastic 17-year-old season in the OHL, racking up an absurd amount of points. He’s a shifty player, and is tough for a defense to stop. His speed, acceleration and edge control are all high-end, and because of that, you rarely saw an OHL defenseman land a clean check on Marner. His puck skills are elite, and he can make great in-tight plays to evade pressure, dekes in full stride to get around a defender or puck plays off the half-boards that create offense in bunches.
Marner is also an incredible passer, making quick reads with the ability to stretch the ice or move it across laterally through traffic with consistency. While small, his defensive game is solid, and improved quite notably over the course of the OHL season to where he became one of London’s better penalty killers. He’s also quite an effective forechecker, not in terms of physical play, but rather how well he forces plays and is sneaky on takeaways.

“If you would’ve told me that he would’ve drafted me into (both) the NHL and the OHL… I wouldn’t have believed you. Weird things happen like this and it’s a special thing to happen. Obviously When I got up there I gave him a big hug, and said thank you and everything like that. He’s been with me ever since day one, drafted me, taken a risk on me, and there’s no way to put into words how much I thank him.”

“No he was pretty bad on that. he was quiet all year to me, and that’s how Mark is. Always a quiet guy he likes to stick to himself.”