Marner continuing to build legacy for Maple Leafs

TORONTO --Mark Hunter was nervous.

He was running the Toronto Maple Leafs table for the 2015 NHL Draft on the floor of BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, hoping that Mitchell Marner would be available at No. 4. As expected, Connor McDavid had been selected No.1 by the Edmonton Oilers and Jack Eichel had been taken No. 2 by the Buffalo Sabres, and the Arizona Coyotes were on the clock.
"I was worried big time," said Hunter, who at the time was the Maple Leafs' co-interim general manager with Kyle Dubas. "You believe in this kid and how good he could be, but we weren't sure he'd be there."
Moments later, he was. The Coyotes opted for Dylan Strome at No. 3, opening the door for a new chapter in Maple Leafs history.
"We couldn't take Mitch fast enough, and look what he's done since then," Hunter said.
"This kid is going to be in the Hall of Fame one day."

Time will tell if Hunter's prediction comes true, but there is no denying that Marner's career is certainly tracking in an elite direction.
Almost eight years after Marner was drafted by the team he grew up rooting for, the 25-year-old will return to that same arena, now named FLA Live Arena, only this time, he will be among the creme de la creme as an NHL All-Star.
"Sure, it'll be special," he said. "First off, it's an honor to be selected and be surrounded by all those great players, and it's great my entire family will be there with me and will be in that building again, just like at the draft.
"I remember I had 50 family and friends there. Everyone knew who the first two picks would be, but Arizona was up in the air. My legs were shaking. I was nervous. Kind of jittery. When 'Stromer' got taken third, they were cheering pretty loud because they didn't want me to go to Arizona, they wanted me to stay here and play in Toronto (Marner is from Markham, Ontario).
"It kind of worked out, hasn't it? It's been quite a blessing."
For both sides.
Consider this: In just his seventh NHL season, the shifty forward is already 12th in Toronto history in points (515) and seventh in assists (358).
This season, Marner also set a Maple Leafs record with a 23-game point streak, breaking the previous mark of 18 held by Darryl Sittler (1977-78) and Eddie Olczyk (1989-90), and a 20-game home point streak, passing Sittler's 18-game run in 1977-78.
"I've sent him texts of congratulation," said Sittler, who is second in Maple Leafs history with 916 points (389 goals, 527 assists) and was inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989. "He's a fine young man who cares about the organization.
"But his legacy, along with the rest of his teammates, will ultimately be determined by any kind of postseason success, which they've struggled to have.
"Mitch knows that individual success is fine, but it's team success that matters."
The fact that Marner has yet to win a Stanley Cup Playoff series in his six postseason appearances is a motivating force that drives him every day to improve. It's also part of the adversity that has made him a better player and a stronger person since he entered the NHL.
"What's the difference between the Mitch Marner who was drafted in Florida and the one who's going back there as an All-Star? Well, you grow up a lot," Marner said.
"You become a different human being, obviously. Turning into somewhat of a family man, I guess. You grow up. I'm engaged to be married. And you try to be more of a leader and a person and someone people can look up to and look to lead. And also for younger generations to look to and believe that you can accomplish a lot of things if you put your mind to it.
"The message is simple: There's no reason to not try and set your goal as high as possible and achieve it."
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When Marner scored on a spectacular individual rush 19 seconds into overtime to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory against the New York Rangers on Jan. 25, Hunter admitted to "jumping out of my chair."
"[Darn] right I had a smile on my face," he said. "I think every Maple Leafs fan did. It was another example of how special this kid is."
The play developed after Marner received a back pass in the Maple Leafs' zone. He slowly entered the Rangers' zone, stick-handled his way toward the left wall, and after Mika Zibanejad and K'Andre Miller turned their backs to mark their guys, he then darted to the crease and fought through stick checks by Artemi Panarin and Miller before tucking the puck past Igor Shesterkin's outstretched glove.

It was a snapshot of the potential Marner has to produce special moments during any and every shift. And for Robert Desveaux, it was something he wants to see him do more often.
Desveaux runs 3 Zones Hockey School in Durham Region, which is about 20 minutes east of Toronto. He has been working with Marner for the past two decades.
"I jumped out of my chair, too, when I saw that goal, and yelled to my wife, who was in the bedroom or something," he said. "But the first thing I said was, 'Why don't you do that more often?!' It was the first thing that came to my mind, and that's what I've been working with him on, driving the net more, carrying the puck more, shooting more instead of always distributing the puck to others.
"It's probably my fault. For so long I've driven it into his head to be the best passer because he was a little bit smaller growing up. He's the best passer in the world, in my opinion, but now I want him shooting more.
"The other thing I thought that goal showed everyone is how fearless he is. He went right into tight quarters at full speed. He's fearless. That's why you see him blocking shots. That's why you see him offering to play [defense] if it's required.
"His drive for improvement never stops."
From the first time he saw him on the ice, Desveaux knew Marner had that "it" factor.
"I remember Paul, his dad, approached me about working with his son when Mitchell was 4. Paul had heard I'd been working with Tyler Seguin. I told him I only worked with kids 6 and older. He was persistent."
Shortly after, Paul showed up at Ajax Community Centre, where the camp was being run, and waved Desveaux over.
"I asked where Mitchell was, and Paul reached behind the bench and pulled him up. He was dressed in his equipment. He was so small.
"But when he got on the ice, I mean, he just flew around. And I turned around to Paul and I said, 'OK, he's in.' He was doing crossovers. At 4. And I said, 'Wow.' He was better than half the little kids already had out there. Since then, he was in my classes, my schools, personal lessons."

Desveaux marveled at Marner's resilience. There was one particular exercise where the instructor would use pads to continuously knock the boy down in the corners or near the boards. Since Mitchell was a smaller player, the drill was designed to build endurance.
"I'd knock him on his butt, he would just get up, a smile on his face, and get right back in there, just bounce back up every time," Desveaux said. "Whatever it took to get better.
"His hockey brain is incredible. He loves the game. Whatever you ask of him, he does. After workouts, he'll pick up the pucks without being asked. And he's a great person who cares about people. When he invited my wife and I to his engagement party, I told him he didn't have to do that. He said, 'Coach Rob, you're part of the family.'"
Hunter remembers seeing Marner play for Don Mills of the Greater Toronto Hockey League in 2012-13, when he was 15. Marner was eligible for the 2013 OHL Draft and the Knights had interest.
"I wasn't very good in that game," Marner said with a chuckle. "Not at all."
It didn't matter.
The Knights selected him with the No. 19 pick, and over the next three seasons, Marner would put up 301 points (96 goals, 205 assists) in 184 games, including helping London win the Memorial Cup in 2016.
"We had him go on the ice with our skilled guys just after we drafted him in London," Hunter said. "He was so small at the time, 5-foot-6, 5-7, not 6-foot like he is now. One of our assistants, Jeff Paul, was not far removed from playing pro hockey, and Mitch went out there and schooled him, went around him in and out so many times it was embarrassing.
"We knew we had something special."
Two years after drafting Marner for the Knights, Hunter, who was hired by the Maple Leafs as a director of player personnel on Oct. 21, 2014, did it again.
"He was special, he is special, and he keeps improving," Hunter said. "Like I said, he's on pace for the Hall of Fame, in my opinion."
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Mitchell Marner wondered if he was going to be shot.
On May 16, 2022, two days after the Maple Leafs had been eliminated in seven games by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference First Round, he and his fiancee, Stephanie LaChance, were the victims of a carjacking outside a movie theatre in Etobicoke, a western suburb of Toronto.
Marner and LaChance were held up by three suspects, two armed with a gun and another with a knife, who took off in Marner's vehicle.
The incident, he says now, certainly has changed his view of the world far beyond hockey.
"I mean, it's a shocking thing in life," Marner said. "It's a crazy incident that you don't wish on anyone. Staring down a barrel of a gun for your car is a pretty crazy moment in life.
"I think that kind of really opened my eyes. Obviously, we just lost the series to Tampa, you're still devastated from that, and then 48 hours later, I've got a gun pointed at my head, and me and my fiancée are being pulled out of my car. It makes you think about life and just realize there are a lot bigger things going on around you. It kind of makes you stronger at the end of it all and understand that it's OK to get help for your mental health."
When Marner finished answering questions about his game-winning goal against the Rangers last week, he asked reporters to stay around so he could talk about the importance of seeking aid when it comes to mental health. The night of the game, Jan. 25, was Bell Let's Talk Day, which is a campaign to promote mental health awareness, and Marner wanted to promote that message, especially after what he and Stephanie had gone through eight months ago.
Another way he is promoting the message is through the Marner Assist Foundation, which hosted the Sink the Stigma initiative in September to benefit the London Health Sciences Centre's First Episode Mood and Anxiety Program. The inaugural miniature golf event raised $25,000.
"He really tries to make a difference," Desveaux said.

In the case of the Foulon family, he already has.
To this day, Marner wears a pink bracelet on his arm that was given to him Hayden Foulon, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was 22 months old. Hayden met Marner, who was playing for London at the time, when he toured the Children's Hospital at the London Health Sciences Centre in 2015.
They became fast friends, with Marner calling Hayden his "hero" in November 2018. Four months later, he treated Hayden and her family to a Maple Leafs game for her seventh birthday, presenting her with a cake afterward.
Sadly, on Oct. 20, 2019, Hayden lost her battle with cancer.
"I haven't taken the bracelet off since she gave it to me," Marner said. "It's a reminder that you can make a difference in life. It was hard to see her go through her ups and downs. It's devastating to think she's gone, but when you can make someone smile -- and we had lots of them -- it's priceless."
Along with his promotion of mental health, Marner's desire to help kids is channeled through the Marner Assist Fund, which looks to ensure that children in challenging positions receive the support they need in social care, health, sports, and education. Each summer, he holds the Marner All-Star Invitational, a charity event to raise funds for his foundation.
Hayden attended the event in the summer of 2018, and now, even with her gone, he makes sure her family always attends.
"He says we're his family," Lindsay Foulon, Hayden's mother, said. "He checks in to see how we're doing, he texts. He's just a special person. I'll be eternally grateful how he made Hayden so happy."

When Hayden was still alive, the Foulons bought a dog. She immediately named it Mitchy after her pal Marner. These days, Mitchy sometimes can be found in front of the TV watching his namesake play.
"It goes beyond hockey," Lindsay said. "Mitch is just such an amazing person."
Hunter couldn't agree more, admitting he's been irked at some of the past criticisms directed toward Marner, both for the six-year, $65.3 million contract he signed on Sept. 14, 2019, and for the Maple Leafs' recent playoff shortcomings.
"Yeah, it kind of bugged me," he said. "Those people don't know him. Hockey's a team game, and there's accountability to go around. All he ever wanted since he was a boy was to be a Toronto Maple Leaf. No one wants that organization to have success more than him.
"The kid's an All-Star, on and off the ice. Those are the facts. What more proof do you need?"