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Marner deflecting focus off Matthews, Marincin out in defensive rotation

November 16, 2016, 11:14 PM ET [805 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday highlighted the exploits rookie winger Mitch Marner, who along with linemates Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk accounted for four of the club’s goals and 11 points.

Van Riemsdyk registered his second career hat trick, Bozak added four assists, but Marner’s three-point night moved him ahead of fellow rookie Auston Matthews with 15 points (second in the league to Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine).



“(Marner) competes with and without the puck. That's really positive. Obviously some of (the other rookies), they have to compete, that's why we like them so much, but when you've got that much skill you can float around a little bit and still play in the league. You're not going to be good, but you're still going to be in the league.” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said following the game. “He's that competitive, he's on the puck, he's smart, he's easy to talk to, enjoys the game, wants to get better... I've never coached a kid that young, that good just because we've never been in that situation before.”

The steady success of the 19-year-old winger has taken some of the attention away from Matthews’ offensive struggles. The 2016 top pick had five shots, a couple good scoring opportunities and played well positionally, but could not find the back of the net past Preds backup Marek Mazanec.

Babcock indicated Tuesday morning that he is pleased with the young center’s progress and believes that he can be ‘dominant’ by Christmas, but playing with rookie wingers in Zach Hyman and William Nylander may be exacerbating Matthews’ situation.

Marner has benefited from being on a line with a pair of veterans who have played together since van Riemsdyk was acquired in the summer of 2012 and perhaps putting an experienced winger like Leo Komarov with Matthews would help him find his way.

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The Leafs continue to cycle defensemen (except for Frank Corrado) in and out of their lineup. After a -4 outing against the Los Angeles Kings last week, Babcock sat Connor Carrick in favor of a healthy Matt Hunwick against Philadelphia and then sat Roman Polak to give Corrado his first start of the year in Pittsburgh.


Martin Marincin and Matt Hunwick unable to cover James Neal in front of the net, resulting in the winger's 7th goal of the season.

Polak returned to the lineup on Tuesday in place of Corrado and the Leafs head coach indicated on Wednesday that Martin Marincin will sit against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

Based on his inconsistent play this season, the 24-year-old Slovakian should have sat more than just three games. Marincin was also -4 against the Kings and played in both weekend games against the Flyers and Penguins.

On Tuesday, the lanky blueliner was exposed on James Neal’s first period goal and also turned into a pretzel by speedy Nashville winger Victor Arvidsson in the second.

The Leafs defense is an area that is obvious need of upgrading, which will be difficult to do in-season, leaving Babcock to play musical chairs with his blueline group in hopes of seeing some improvement.

With Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner locks to be protected and rookie Nikita Zaitsev exempt from the expansion draft next June, Carrick and Marincin appear to be battling for that third protected spot, with the loser being exposed to Las Vegas.

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