Marner could be used as defenseman for Maple Leafs, Keefe says
Forward paired with Rielly during practice Thursday
By
Dave McCarthy
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
"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 Auston Matthews and left wing Michael Bunting at practice, Marner spent some time playing on a pair with defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Marner said Friday he's ready for whatever Keefe asks him to do.
"I'm open to all kind of opportunities, whatever he is thinking, I'm not against anything," Marner said. "So, as soon as he gave me the heads up, I was all in with it and thought the idea was kind of a cool thinking one."
He said communication with the regular Maple Leafs defenseman will be key.
"I guess just trying to adapt with it, making sure I'm good enough to take on 2-on-1s if it happens, 3-on-2s, try to just communicate with whoever is out there with me as a D partner and talk about how we are going to try to attack and approach if odd man rushes are coming against us," Marner said. "We're lucky to have some great defensemen who are very open and talkative about how to play certain plays, so they're always open to questions."
Keefe stressed 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 Alex Kerfoot and Calle Jarnkrok as defensemen after Jordie Benn (groin) and Carl Dahlstrom (shoulder) each sustained an injury in the first period.
The Maple Leafs announced Friday that Dahlstrom needs surgery and will be out six months. Benn will be out three weeks.
"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 probably than 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 playing as defensemen was more out of necessity Wednesday, Keefe thinks Marner has the ability to excel at the position 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 near 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 is in the defense spot, quarterbacking things and, at times, even defending, so that's sort of why we came to that conclusion."
