It has been a whirlwind year for Leafs forward Mason Marchment, who was expected to challenge for a job with the Leafs in training camp, but fate had other plans for him as his opportunity was cut short due to injury.
The son of former NHL enforcer Bryan Marchment, Mason will make his much anticipated NHL debut against the Winnipeg Jets (V 2.0) on Thursday evening. What makes this a special event, you might ask? Winnipeg (Arizona) drafted his father 16th overall in 1987.
This keeps in line with a string of "special moments" that Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe have been setting up for several players within the system, starting with Nick Shore drawing into the lineup against the Avs, in Colorado, where Nick played 3 seasons with the University of Denver.
Keefe then decided to start Jason Spezza during the next gen game against the Hurricanes in Toronto in December because Keefe thought Jason might have a lot of family in attendance.
Most recently, Dubas called up defense prospect Teemu Kivihalme to travel with the team to St. Paul take part in warm-ups prior to Tuesday's matchup against the Minnesota Wild. Kivihalme was born in Minnesota.
This is surely going to be a special moment for Marchment, but unfortunately for the Jets, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The rough-and-tumble 24-year-old posted 60 PIMs last season for the AHL Toronto Marlies. Though it's nowhere near his dad's 2307 PIMs in 926 NHL games, the younger Marchment can be quite a disruptive player and cause fits for the opposition. At 6'4" and 220 pounds, the Jets will want to keep their heads on a swivel and be aware of where the Uxbridge, ON native is on the ice at all times.
The path to the NHL was not an easy one for Marchment, as he went undrafted and had to work his way up on his own. He played for three different OHL teams from 2014 through 2016 before joining the Marlies in the AHL in 2016, playing just 12 games over the next two seasons, finishing the 2016-17 season with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.
Marchment has been back with the Marlies since the 2017-18 season and played a pivotal role for the team throughout the playoffs, helping lead the Marlies to a Calder Cup win under Sheldon Keefe that season.
What Marchment lacks in offensive punch, he more than makes up for in all the intangibles. He is a big-body player with a strong net-front presence, who can really get under the skin of the opponent and will go to battle for his teammates. That said, he still put up a very respectable 25 points through 44 games with the Marlies in 2018-19.
The hulking winger knows that one of the main reasons he was not drafted was his skating, so he has made it a point to really focus hard on improving that part of his game, crediting Leafs skating coach Barb Underhill with the success that he's had with the organization to date.
“I don't think I would be here today without Barb, so really kudos to her," he said. When asked what, in particular she helped him with, a very humble Marchment simply said, “She taught me how to skate!”
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