Marner's Offense:
Stylistically, he's a tic-tac-toe player, which has been on display at times with
Bozak. He has mentioned himself that he's looking to develop into a multi-tool threat. He has a good, accurate shot, but the release is not quite NHL heavy or deceptive yet, leaning pretty heavily on
wristers.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Shooting location has improved from the early parts of the season, where he was favouring the RW,
outside of the dot.
As you can see in the videos below, when he pulls to the inside to open up the angle to more of the net, his accuracy has more to work with.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzvLH8VHaIU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgFpzROv9ps[/youtube]
LEGZ
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25BxX-UJqMM[/youtube]
He's such a fantastic skater that it's great to see him use that tool to get better reads on the net, or open up lanes for his teammates.
BRAAAAINS
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1SBCEDm5mg[/youtube]
I said this last year when reviewing Marner's games with London. He has that Gretzkyian sense of where everyone is on the ice, and where they will likely be. Check out this bump back pass to Bozak after calling for the give and go with JvR by stick out his stick around Emelin.
STICK HANDLING
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrjHkna2REA[/youtube]
Seriously, it's not fair what he can do with the puck given even a little bit of time and space. It's not just the puck handling though, it's also the change of speed and positioning to give the puck the best look at the net.
BOARDS
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU5gfeIOen0[/youtube]
Do you remember how everyone thought Marner was too small for the NHL? HAHAHAHAHA. Here he knows he's going to be hit, so he just presses up against the boards to transfer all the hit into the flexing glass, bounces out, and knowing there is a follow up hit, he uses the momentum to drive his first stride out of the corner around a JvR pick for the no-look sneak-snipe.
TO BE IMPROVED
Marner still takes a good number of Jason Blake-ian shots and the line tends to prefer transition plays, rather than setting up shop on the cycle. Those straight-line approaches are pretty easy for the defense and goaltenders to turn away. Marner (and co.) do so much damage when they can cross the middle (get the zone defense communication scrambled) and in close. Fortunately, he's not afraid to get greasy, and can pick the puck out of a pile. His teammates have caught up with his thinking speed too, so they're keeping their sticks on the ice when he makes forays to the net (Bozak is sneaky!).
