‘Late bloomer’ Marchment is quickly becoming key contributor for Panthers
Watch Mason Marchment celebrate after he scores a goal, and see the euphoria that exudes from him.
The Florida Panthers’ 26-year-old winger, normally subdued and reserved in press conference settings, shouts with all his might — kicking his leg up or dropping down to one knee on the ice or throwing his arms into the air as he yells — before being mobbed by his teammates.
“I’m living the dream,” Marchment said in January.
Bryan Marchment, Mason’s father and an NHL veteran of 926 games, has seen his son living the dream from a distance. COVID-19 protocols and his day job as a scout and development coach with the San Jose Sharks make it difficult to be in the same arena as his son.
“To be honest,” Bryan Marchment said, “I’m just so proud of him that he’s playing and just doing what he’s doing.”
Marchment is in the midst of a breakout season, with 30 points in 29 games this season. He tied a franchise record with a six-point outing and then recorded his first hat trick three games later.
But Marchment’s biggest achievement is the steady playing time for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations — a dream that didn’t always look like it would become reality.
He was a late bloomer in the hockey scene and an undrafted prospect who toiled in the Maple Leafs’ minor-league system.
Even when he was given an opportunity for regular playing time after being traded to the Panthers, injury and a bout with COVID-19 added more hurdles.
But the work ethic and determination never wavered. It’s paying off.
“I’m just trying to work hard every day and get better and prove myself,” Marchment said.
‘WORK HARDER’
He’s certainly proving himself to be a capable NHL player.
Want proof?
Marchment is one of 44 players entering Saturday who has recorded at least 30 points and is averaging at least one point per game. He’s averaging the least amount of ice time per game of that group at 13:25. The next closest? The St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Kyrou, who averages 16:28 per game.
And, like his career overall, his success this season hasn’t come easy.
After playing in 10 of
Florida’s first 12 games, Marchment missed more than seven weeks with an upper-body injury before finally returning in late December. He played four times between Christmas and New
Year’s Day and then tested positive for COVID-19 and missed six more games.
Once the playing time steadied out, the points have come in bunches. Marchment has six multipoint games this season, five of which have come in the past 12 games.
That includes his twogoal, four-assist night against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 31 that tied Olli Jokinen’s franchise record for most points in a game and his hat trick on Feb. 18 against the Minnesota Wild.
At 6-4 and 209 pounds, Marchment is one of Florida’s bigger wingers who isn’t afraid to be physical on the ice.
“He brings a dimension that not a lot of our players have,” Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette said.
Brunette has rewarded him for it. Marchment is now playing on the Panthers’ top forward line with Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe and getting time with the team’s second power-play unit.
“He’s earned it,” Brunette said.
‘GRINDED MY WAY UP’
That sort of summarizes Marchment’s whole career.
“I’ve kind of grinded my way up,” Marchment said.
Marchment’s first year of junior hockey didn’t come until he was 19 years old, a relatively late start for hockey.
The uphill climb began. Marchment signed an AHL contract with the Maple Leafs in 2016. After a season with the Orlando Solar Bears of the East Coast Hockey League and another with the Toronto Marlies (the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate), Marchment was offered an entry-level NHL contract in March 2018.
He wouldn’t see the NHL for another two years, though. Toronto called him up for four games over two stints in the 2019-2020 season after dealing with injuries to its forward group. Three days after his fourth NHL game, the Maple Leafs traded him to the Panthers for Denis Malgin.
Marchment has since played in 62 games for the Panthers, tallying 40 points. He scored two goals in Florida’s sixgame playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Just trying to be a complete player,” Marchment said. “Whatever I can do to help.”