Don't look now, but Mitch Marner is heating up a lot earlier than he did last season; Is an Art Ross Trophy within his reach?
For Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, the 2022-23 season has been a mixed bag. At times, he has looked downright lost out on the ice and his questionable decision-making has led to some horrendous turnovers and scoring chances for the opposition. On the other side of that coin, Marner is riding a 10-game point streak in which he has accumulated 14 points - so he's been plenty productive.
Marner has been a bit of a slow starter, historically. He is, in large, a second half player. A perfect example is what we saw from him last season, when he was the NHL's hottest player from January onward. If Marner's 10-game point streak is a sign of him heating up earlier than normal, it could be great news for the Buds and horrible news for the rest of the league. He has scored 2 goals in his last 4 game, including this highlight reel goal against Vegas on November 8th.
A huge part of Marner's game is his confidence. He basically lives and dies by it on the ice. When Marner is feeling good about his game, it's nearly impossible to stop him. The skill he has with the puck and the vision and anticipation he has without the puck are difficult to prepare for if you're the opposing team. A confidence Mitch Marner is a scary Mitch Marner.
Marner has recorded 4 multi-point games through the team's first 17 contests this season. This is up from last season, when he only had 3 multi-point games through his first 17. His point totals this year are also up from where they were at this point last season. Through 17 games in 2021-22, Marner had amassed just 15 points, versus the 19 points he has to start the 2022-23 campaign.
It's easy to look at the start the Leafs had this season, going 4-4-2 through the first 10 games, and pick apart this team and its star players. One important thing to note, however, is that nobody is a harsher critic towards Marner than he is to himself. He knows the level to which he is capable of playing and sometimes it takes him awhile to get dialed in. If his start this season is any indication, he's finding it a lot earlier than we're used to seeing and if this 10-game point streak turns into a 12, 14 or 16-game point streak, which it very easily could with the team around him beginning to heat up as well, we might not only be looking at Marner's first 100-point season, but we could yet see him challenge for the Art Ross Trophy - especially if he can remain healthy through 82 games.
I know how that sounds but Marner posted 97 points in 72 games last season, which puts him on a 110-point pace. There were only 4 players last season who reached or exceeded that total. Marner also scored 79 goals in his final 46 games of the season, which put him on a 140-point pace over that span. While the odds of Marner scoring 140 points in a season aren't exactly high, we shouldn't ignore his unique skill set and elite vision or discount the run he went on in 2021-22. He did it once, he could very well do it again - and while he may not end his season with 140 points, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could hit 110 or even 120 points once he really begins to heat up. For context, Connor McDavid won last year's Art Ross Trophy with 123 points.
| POLL | ||
16 NOVEMBRE | 130 ANSWERS Don't look now, but Mitch Marner is heating up a lot earlier than he did last season; Is an Art Ross Trophy within his reach? Can Mitch Marner challenge for the Art Ross Trophy in 2022-23? | ||
| Yes | 69 | 53.1 % |
| No | 61 | 46.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
