Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Mitch Marner: What to Expect in Year One

Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Mitch Marner: What to Expect in his NHL Rookie Season

The fourth overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner has raised his potential into something very special after a historical season in the OHL.

On Saturday, Marner was named Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Player of the Year.  Playing alongside Coyotes prospect Christian Dvorak and 2016 draft-eligible Matthew Tkachuk, all three managed to top 100 points (116 points for Marner).  The trio even managed to finish top three in scoring during the postseason.

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner was named the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Most Outstanding Player during the regular season.  He was also named OHL Playoff MVP with 44 points in 18 games.

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The London Knights continued their dominance at the Memorial Cup over the past week.

They capped off a memorable run with a victory over top ranked QMJHL Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the Final on Sunday.  Marner was awarded Tournament MVP with an eye-popping 14 points in four games.

As we can all expect, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner will be with the big club next season, but we wonder, how well will he perform?

Next Year (2016-17)

Next year, Marner will adapt to the NHL as a rookie. He faces injury-risk because he’s not a real tough guy, and may hit up to 50 points; that’s pretty good for a young rookie.

Also, he might get sent down to the AHL a few times because he might need to work on a few things (on a conditioning stint), but then, he will come back to the NHL.

With the Leafs having a pretty bad squad right now, I can’t see him doing amazing in his first season.

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2017-2018 Season

This may be the year that Mitchell Marner will have a breakout year.

By then, Kapanen, Nylander, Matthews (if the Leafs draft him) and Rielly will be experienced, playing well, and it should manage to rub off on Marner to help him raise the level of his game.

Future Seasons

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner can turn out to be the next Patrick Kane, or, he can just turn out to be a 60 point-per-season player (I’m not saying that’s not bad; but not expected for his level of talent).

Next: Toronto Maple Leafs End of Year Review, Grades

In the future, he will be a big part of the Leafs organization as he will have other players (such as Auston Matthews, Kasperi Kapanen, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly) helping him out during his journey to become one of the league’s best.