There's a lot to like about the game of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, but according to the 23-year-old himself, there is one area of his game that needs improving. His goalscoring.
At first look, Marner's 291 points in 300 career NHL games doesn't raise any concerns in the production level of the Markham, ON native, who is set to enter his 5th NHL season. However, upon further inspection, it's pretty clear by his 208 career assists that Marner has been anything but a willing trigger man, even when the opportunity is there.
So, with just 83 career NHL goals to his credit, how exactly does Marner intend on addressing this issue? Well, according to the methodical playmaker, playing in the dirty areas and finding his way to the front of the net seems to be the logical solution, but in order to score, you have to shoot - and Marner seems to be coming to terms with this, which should make for an exciting 5th season.
"I've been trying to really be OK and comfortable with myself shooting regardless of how the shot comes off," said Marner. "That's something I'm trying to get my head wrapped around and something I'm becoming more confident with."
Marner will have plenty of veterans on the team to turn to this season if and when times get tough. Someone like Wayne Simmonds, who knows a thing or two about getting into those dirty areas and scoring greasy goals, would be a prime candidate to help Marner to improve in these areas. In addition, Joe Thornton's presence should provide Marner with every opportunity to learn from a guy who built a career on being a playmaker who doesn't shy away from playing in those same tough areas.
Marner is enjoying the fresh faces and new personalities in the room thus far, as he has had an opportunity to be around at least a few of them as the players have slowly been making their returns to Toronto.
"It's been great seeing all the new guys," Marner said. "We're still being smart [with health and safety protocols], but it's been a lot of fun feeling like the team's together again."
"The pieces we added, they're great pieces that will help us a lot," Marner said. "But we've got to make sure we're ready to play every night. If we don't come ready to play, it doesn't matter."
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