TORONTO — Mitchell Marner could be used as a defenseman during the regular season, Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said on Thursday.
“Throughout camp, he has been taking some reps on the back end, and he and I have been talking about it since before camp began,” Keefe said.
In addition to playing right wing on a line with center Austin Matthews and left wing Michael Bunting At practice, Marner spent some time playing on a pair with a defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Keefe stressed, though, that Marner’s use in that role would only be situational.
“There could be opportunities in games where we might want to give him a look on defense, whether we are trying to score a goal or playing from behind, whatever the case might be, that we might give him some opportunity there to see what that looks like,” Keefe said.
“That’s something we will continue to look at through the preseason and make a determination from there on how we might use it.”
Keefe said he was intrigued by the possibility of getting another offensive player on the ice, provided they could handle the defensive responsibilities. Marner had 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in 72 games last season.
“Mitch is a right shot, a highly offensive player that can help us, and it allows us to put on another high impact forward like [William] Nylander in that case, so it’s something worth looking at for us I think,” Keefe said.
On Wednesday, the Maple Leafs spent the final 40 minutes of their 3-0 preseason win against the Montreal Canadiens using forwards. Alexander Kerfoot and Calle Jarnkrok on the back end after defensemen Jordie Benn (groin) and Carl Dahlstrom (shoulder) each sustained injuries in the first period.
“Last night was, we hope, a one-off and we don’t have to resort to something like that, but players move around now and forwards end up having to cover and play on defense far more frequently than probably in the history of our game,” Keefe said.
“Having those skill sets are important, so I think naturally players younger and younger are going to come up with those type of skill sets, plus we see a lot more forwards converted to defensemen at younger ages. You look at the way Cale Makar (defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche) plays the game, there’s a lot of young kids growing up who are going to want to look like that.”
Although having two forwards cover on the back end was more out of necessity on Wednesday, Keefe thinks Marner has the ability to excel at defenseman in the right situations during a regular-season game.
“To me, the more and more I watch how we move around in the offensive zone, Mitch spends a lot of time (up at the blue line),” Keefe said. “Obviously on the power play he’s up there quite a bit, so it was just a little more natural for me to consider that.
“The more and more I watch the clips, that’s what stands out. So for me, it’s knowing Mitch’s skill set, and I’ve got a pretty good library of clips where he is actually playing defense. Even though he is a forward on that shift, he’s in the defensive spot, quarterbacking things and, at times, even defending, so that’s sort of why we came to that conclusion.”
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