Most of the Hockey World has Dylan Strome and Mitch Marner as interchangeable parts in the upcoming Hockey draft and many have him as the third best overall player behind Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. The X factor is Marner's playmaking ability. He has spent the last two seasons with the London Knight's of the Ontario Hockey league where he posted video game like numbers of 126 points in 63 games including a few five point games.
The biggest knock on Mitch Marner is his size. He only weighs in at 5-10 and 160 pounds. Dan Marr, the Chief Scout of NHL Central Scouting believes Marner "plays bigger than his size and is not afraid to get involved in traffic or battle for pucks." Marner is seen as being strong in all three zones and an underrated defensive player.
Marner's strength is his playmaking ability. Marr describes Marner as having a "high end skill set with puck handling and playmaking ability." Dominic Tiano of the OHL Writers believes that Marner has the "ability to step up his game." He went on to say that Marner "carried the Knights in the absence of Max Domi" when Domi went down during the season with an injury. Curtis Joe of Elite Prospects believes that Marner "makes the players around him better."
The Toronto Maple Leafs own the number four pick in the draft ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marner was born and raised in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill. It will be interesting to see of new Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock will take a chance on a local player of Marner's playmaking abilities or if he will go with Strome or Hanifin to build his foundation on. The Hurricanes could use someone of Marner's playmaking ability but he may not be around by pick number five.
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