Quick question: When is it too early to be talking NHL Draft?
With the league still five-plus months away from the 2015 NHL entry draft — or, as I like to call it, the “McDavid and Eichel Show”.
Puck Prose
The Coyotes’ playoff chances are a seemingly distant memory, with Sports Club Stats giving them a .009 percent chance at recovering and making the playoffs. (For perspective they would essentially have to go 29-4-3 down the stretch to assure themselves a playoff spot with 98 points.) With that said, I think it’s safe to turn our attention to the Draft.
The Coyotes are currently 28th in the league standings, ahead of Buffalo and Edmonton — and with the new lottery system, that gives them an 11.5% chance at getting the first pick in the draft. In other words, that gives them an 11.5% shot at winning the rights to Connor McDavid.
If things hold as they are, though, then who should the Coyotes turn their attention to with the third pick in the draft?
Well — someone whom Coyotes prospects Max Domi and Christian Dvorak are very familiar with might be the best option.
That, of course, is Mitchell Marner of the London Knights.
Marner was recently named the seventh best North American skater eligible for the 2015 Draft in Central Scouting’s midterm rankings that were released on Tuesday. Not too surprising, considering how the 17 year old is playing this season in the OHL.
Marner ranks second only to Connor Mcdavid with 2.12 points per game in the OHL, and has posted an impressive 90 points in 42 games as an assistant captain on his squad. Those 90 points lead the OHL, and are a full ten points higher than second place Dylan Strome.
If that isn’t enough, then just take a peek at his January numbers — Marner has 18 points in six January games, including a six point performance against Sarnia on January 2nd.
Marner’s numbers are great — and although numbers don’t always tell the whole story, the thing that intrigues me the most about the possibility of having him in a Coyotes sweater a few years down the road is the thought of having him play with his current junior teammates.
“Think about it — the aforementioned Christian Dvorak, Mitch Marner, and Max Domi trio at the NHL level? Unreal.”
Obviously, the Knights have figured out to use the three of them in tandem to score at hockey-god like paces, so why not just keep a good thing going and play them all together at the NHL level? That’s a pretty fun proposition to think about.
We can all dream, right? Let’s be realistic, though — what do the scouts see in him? Here is his scouting report, courtesy of Hockeyprospect.com, prior to his selection in the OHL draft.
"“Mitchell was selected 1st round, 19th Overall by the London Knights at the 2013 OHL Priority Selection Draft. Mitchell showed elite potential offensive talent for the Don Mills Flyers. Mitchell is a good skater and shows acceleration when skating with the puck. Mitchell is very shifty and is constantly making opponents miss, putting themselves out of position. He shows excellent puck skills and has the creativity and ability to constantly beat defenders in 1-on-1 situations. Marner also displays an elite scoring touch and is good at beating goaltenders with a variety of different dekes and both slap and wrist shots from all areas of the offensive zone. He shows excellent playmaking skills, constantly making his linemates better by setting them up in great scoring situations. He is a threat to score on every shift and if he does not have the puck he is in constant puck pursuit. Marner is also reliable in the defensive zone and is good at helping out down low and using his skating ability to skate pucks out of trouble. He is utilized in both power play and penalty kill situations for the Flyers and works hard to do the little things such as blocking shots in order to help get his team the win. Although small in stature, Mitchell is not afraid to take a hit to make a play and does not shy from contact in front of the opposition net. Size is his biggest issue going forward although he has shown that he has the shiftiness and vision to keep out of harms way. Mitchell also needs to work on shortening his shifts as he appears tired and neglects back-checking towards the end of some shifts.”"
We all love scoring, but the thing that stood out to me here — and the reason that he would be a great fit in a Dave Tippett system — is his defensive ability. “Marner is also reliable in the defensive zone, and is good at helping out down low and using his skating ability to skate pucks out of trouble”.
As we have seen, that is kind of a must for all forwards in a Dave Tippett system — and is great to see with Marner. Marner is listed as a center and is similar to Max Domi in size at 5ft 11, 163lbs — but is two years younger than Max, so we can expect him to gain more size as he gets older and nears being NHL ready.
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