Mitch Marner is Scoring Like a Maniac, and other Leafs Prospect News

We’ve written a lot of words about William Nylander lately and just how good he’s looked for the Toronto Marlies. So good, in fact, that a lot of folks want the Maple Leafs to bring him up to the big club and see if he continue his scoring ways in the NHL. Nylander is one of the best prospects in all of hockey, and his progress is making a lot of Leafs fans feel warm and fuzzy inside.

So, hey, let’s not forget about Mitch Marner in the OHL, ok?

The Leafs’ top pick of the 2015 NHL Draft had himself a hell of a weekend with three multipoint games in three days. On Friday, Marner assisted on three goals in London’s 6-1 win over Owen Sound. On Saturday, it was a goal and assist in another win over the Attack, this time 4-1. Yesterday, Marner added another goal and two more assists in another 5-3 win over Windsor. That’s eight points in three games, 27 points in 10 games this month, and a whopping 47 points in 22 games so far this season.

The crazy part about Marner’s scoring pace is that he’s still only fourth in the OHL scoring race. Erie’s Alex DeBrincat sits first with 52 points in 25 games while Marner’s own linemates Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk have 49 and 48 points respectively. It’s going to be very interesting to see if Marner can win a scoring title this year since it’s a hell of a lot more difficult to create separation when you’re consistently feeding the competition those sick passes.

Jesper Lindgren scored his first and second SHL goals this past week in a loss to Vaxjo and a win over Rogle. 

A 2015 fourth round pick, Lindgren has flown under the radar a bit being used primarily as a bottom four or bottom pairing defender. With two goals in his last two game, though, maybe Lindgren is beginning to settle into the pace of the SHL game. He’s worth keeping an eye on, as he’s the type of player who could arrive in North America in a couple years and impress at the AHL level. You know, the kind of Swedish guy you forget is in the system then gets hyped up as a ‘hidden gem’ in the system? That guy.

Earlier this week, the Leafs put pen-to-paper on two of their 2015 draft picks – Quebec’s Dmytro Timashov and Lethbridge’s Andrew Nielsen. Both of them have been enjoying excellent seasons so far.

Timashov has been a consistent offensive threat all season, scoring multiple points in 15 of his 26 games so far this season. Last year, Timashov finished 12th in QMJHL scoring with 90 points in 66 games. So far this year, the diminutive winger sits sixth in league scoring with 45 points in 26 games – a 117-point pace over a full 68-game season.

Nielsen, on the other hand, has cooled off as of late, having only put up eight points in 12 games this month compared to 16 points in the same number of games in October. That said, Nielsen scored 24 points in 59 games last year and has already beat that with 25 points in 26 games this year, sitting fifth in WHL scoring amongst blueliners.

Erie’s Travis Dermott only has one goal this year. Last season, he had eight. That’s not a good stat. 

However, Dermott also has 23 assists to go along with that lonely goal, and that puts him in a tie for the lead in OHL scoring amongst defenders with 24 points in 26 games. That’s a great stat, and Dermott is looking every bit the second round pick the Leafs made him this past offseason.