Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 345
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Marchment is an undrafted player originally signed to an AHL contract who has worked his way up from the ECHL to the NHL over the course of the past 4+ seasons. He’s a testament to Toronto’s developmental system as they’ve taken “nothing” and turned it into a young but established NHL depth forward in Malgin.
Today Marchment is more than “nothing” however. He’s tenacious and an agitator and has shown a physical aspect of his game from the get go. He works hard on the forecheck and is defensively solid - tho sometimes he will go for the “big hit” when it’s not always warranted and he’ll always take more penalties than he draws. He’s been a fan favourite for the Marlies for the past 3 seasons and I for one am going to miss the guy.
As he has taken on more special teams (PP and PK) responsibilities in Years 2 & 3 and moved into a Top-6 (AHL) role, his offensive game has taken a big step forward. From where I’m sitting, my main concerns lay in his skill and play-making (he’s working on a Cy Young year this season) and his injury history and age (he turns 25 next month). He’s experienced several injuries over the past two season (multiple back injuries I believe) and these are going to limit his ceiling, even if he is still continuing to grow as a player. Maybe he becomes an NHL 4th liner - an energy guy with some finishing ability - but again, age and injuries could make that an upward struggle over the next couple years.
On the whole, even as a big fan of Mason Marchment, I have to give the win to Toronto.