Maple Leafs Considering Moving Mitch Marner to Center, per Craig Berube
The Toronto Maple Leafs may be trying something vastly different in the future, as Craig Berube and Mitch Marner are discussing a potential position change.
With Craig Berube's squad suffering from a lot of different injuries, they are running out of options on who they can slide into the lineup.
They already recalled Fraser Minten and they don't have other options in case someone goes down.
According to Luke Fox of Sportsnet however, Berube may look to his best player to take over center duties for the time being.
That's right, there are talks of Mitch Marner moving to center. The failed William Nylander experiment didn't dissuade Berube from using another winger of his to patrol the middle while his team recovers.
Is Mitch Marner At Center The Solution?
No one is going to ask Marner to play defense, that's a death sentence. But, Marner at center is not the weirdest change.
For his career, he has only won 44.1% of faceoffs but has had a lot of success in a small sample size. During the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Marner had 52.6% and 58.3% for faceoff wins respectively, and with more experience he could easily improve his career average.
Nylander is a better center however he wasn't able to take the charge like Berube wanted, and Mitch being on such a hot streak means Berube has options to move him, as he seems to thrive regardless of placement.
It's not perfect and Toronto would more than likely enjoy the services of Auston Matthews and David Kampf, both faceoff wizards who often find themselves getting the bulk but are currently injured.
Fraser Minten is a center but unproven and will have to acclimate into the lineup before Berube can give him an honest look. Other than that, Toronto is stretched thin down the middle.
Marner is tearing it up this season, leading the team with 22 points and giving Toronto a headache when it comes to re-signing him before free agency.
Being the leader in Matthews' absence, Marner has shown new life and proven why he's been one of the league's best since his arrival.
If Berube wants to try Marner at center, he should give it a look. It's not a perfect solution but if he can unlock another part of Marner's game, it could make Toronto even deadlier.
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Should Toronto try Mitch Marner at center? | ||
