Marner walks similar path as Leafs mate
With no deal in sight, forward may opt to train in Europe like Nylander
Do Swiss hockey players train harder than their Austrian counterparts? The Toronto Maple Leafs better hope the answer is yes.
A year after William Nylander sat out the first two months of the season due to a prolonged contract stalemate, Mitch Marner is apparently heading down a similar path. There are reports he and the Leafs might not sign a new deal until the start of the season — when the team can officially activate US$10.55 million in available cap space for the injured David Clarkson and Nathan Horton — forcing him to miss all of training camp.
If so, Marner is reportedly planning on spending those two weeks with a team in Switzerland.
It’s not an unusual decision. Nylander also trained away from the Leafs, preferring to skate briefly with an Austrian pro team. But ultimately, it didn’t do him much good. When he finally signed a deal and returned to the NHL, he was nowhere close to the player the Leafs had expected ( and paid generously for), finishing with just seven goals and 27 points in 54 games.
That’s the fear now with Marner. And it’s not just a Toronto problem.
The number of restricted free agents still without contracts is something the league has never seen before. With less than a month to go before the start of the training camp, there is a real possibility that several impact players, including Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point, Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen, Boston’s Charlie Mcavoy and several more, will be sitting out.
Some will eventually get deals done before the season begins. But even if it’s for a week or a day or two, spending training camp away from your team — whether you’re
working out in Austria, Switzerland or Toronto — is far from ideal.
“As far as getting into four pre-season games, it’s a huge prepper for the season,” said former NHL forward Colby Armstrong. “It really, really is. To miss that is tough. There’s no doubt about that.”
The team Marner is reportedly interested in joining, Zurich SC, is the same one Auston Matthews played for in 2015-16 and includes several former Nhlers, such as Dominic Moore, Kevin Klein and Drew Shore. According to ex-coach Marc Crawford, the Swiss league is a “better league than the AHL.”
Marner will skate with pros. He’ll work out with them. He’ll stay in shape. But it won’t be the same as the NHL.
“There’s a different philosophy in terms of the workouts and the style of workouts,” said Armstrong. “There’s a lot of Olympic lifting, squats and cleans. I don’t know what it will be like in Switzerland, but the day- to- day workload is competitive and tough.”
Beyond that, he won’ t be around his teammates or current Nhlers, for that matter.
There is something to be said about competing with like- minded players who have the same goals and expectations as yourself.
Marner won’t be taking passes from linemate John Tavares. He won’t be challenging Morgan Rielly or Jake Muzzin in one- oneone battles. He’ll essentially be training by himself.
As motivated a player as Marner is, that’s a dangerous proposition for a team needing him and Tavares to build on the 73 goals and 182 points they combined for last season.
“There’s nothing I can say that’s better than watching a guy do one more rep than you,” said Biosteel founder Matt Nichol, who spent several years as the Leafs’ strength and conditioning coach. “You need to be competing against other guys like that. They might have been training all summer. But if you’re by yourself, you can’t replicate being together with 20 or 30 NHL guys who are competing as hard as you.”
And yet, Marner is not Nylander. He’s more proven as a player. And he also might be more self-motivated.
No two players are the same. While Nylander struggled to keep up with the pace of the NHL upon his return, Montreal’s Shea Weber also came back in December and never missed a step.
A few years ago, Johnny Gaudreau missed camp because of a contract negotiation and ended up with a career- worst 18 goals and 61 points in 72 games. Of course, that same year Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell also missed the first 10 games of the NHL season. When he returned, he hit the 30- goal mark for the first time in his career.
Many years earlier, Pavel Bure scored twice in his season debut on Jan. 20, 1999, following a contractual holdout with the Vancouver Canucks and a trade to the Florida Panthers. He ended up scoring 13 goals and adding three assists in 11 games.
“I don’t think Mitch is Pavel, but he’s not far off,” said former NHLER Jeff O’neill. “How the hell could training camp be that important when guys are saying they don’t want to get hurt in pre- season games?”
Even Nichol admitted training camp isn’t as important as it used to be. In the past, players used the two- week camp to literally toss out their smokes and get in shape for the season. Today, with players skating and training year-round, it can be a nuisance more than anything.
“The first couple of days of camp is a bit of a gong show,” said Nichol, citing the team- mandated fitness tests. “You don’t know if these guys are auditioning for the Navy Seals or NHL. It might be more detrimental than beneficial.”
the first couple days of camp is a bit of a gong show.