Florida Panthers: Mason Marchment Making Case for Extended Look

Mason Marchment is a player who’s been on and off my radar for the past few seasons, culminating in his current stint with the Florida Panthers.

The son of former NHL agitator Bryan Parchment, Mason Marchment’s NHL debut had been a long time coming. After starting his career with the OJHL’s Cobourg Cougars, Marchment made his CHL debut at the advanced age of 19, spending two seasons split between three teams.

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After putting up a high of 20 goals and 31 assists over 61 games in the 2015-16 season, split between the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Mississauga Steelheads, the Toronto Maple Leafs opted to give Marchment a shot, signing him to a deal with their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

After spending his first professional season primarily in the ECHL with the Orlando Solar Bears, Marchment found a regular shift with the Marlies in 2017-18, posting 26 points over 44 games, leading to him signing a two-year entry level deal with the Leafs in March of 2018. Since then, Marchment has upped his play considerably, being on pace for a career-high 57 points in 2019-20 prior to the AHL’s season cancellation, posting 18 points over just 24 games.

With the Leafs dealing with a rash of injuries late last season, Marchment was called up for his first NHL game, recording one assist over a four-game cup of coffee. With his Entry-Level deal set to expire heading into the 2020 offseason, the Leafs traded Marchment to the Florida Panthers in exchange for failed Fourth Round project Denis Malgin.

While Malgin opted to continue his career overseas this season, signing with Lausanne HC of the Swiss-A league, Marchment re-signed with the Panthers on a one-year, two-way deal in November of 2020.

Heading into the 2020-21 season, Florida was making an interesting case to be a potential contender once more, adding numerous new pieces to make up for the loss of top forwards Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman.

Inconsistent first round project Mike Matheson was shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins for consistent two-way winger Patric Hornqvist, Anthony Duclair was added on a one-year deal to provide some depth offense, Alexander Wennberg was picked up after being bought out by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and even former AHL all-star Carter Verhaeghe was given a shot on a two-year deal.

While $10 million dollar man Sergei Bobrovsky has still yet to live up to his hefty contract, posting a 2.95 Goals Against Average in spite of an 11-2-2 record, the Panthers have gotten off to one of their best starts in recent memory, posting a 18-5-4 record to start this season. While the loss of Dadonov and Hoffman was expected to hurt the team’s top six, the numerous depth additions have stepped in nicely, including, rather inexplicably, Marchment.

Florida Panthers forward Mason Marchment is making a case for an extended NHL look.

After posting just 13 points over 52 games in his first NHL season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Verhaege has already eclipsed that margin this season with 20 points over 27 games. Hornqvist seems to be returning to his 40-point days of the past, being up to 22 points over 27 games, backup and long-time journeyman Chris Driedger is now challenging Bobrovsky for the starting job, and Marchment is quietly proving his worth as a legitimate NHL option.

With 2 goals and 4 assists through his first 10 games, Marchment is now seeing time on Florida’s penalty kill and power play units. In a 2020-21 season that has been full of surprise performances, Marchment is one such player, fitting in nicely on a Panthers team that now has the depth they had been lacking in for so many years.

At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Marchment’s size is his most noticeable attribute, bringing a physical presence to his game which is complimented by some solid hands and skating abilities. Couple that with a solid release, and he’s been a nice addition to a Florida team that has leaned heavily on its depth thus far this season. Facing a surprisingly competitive Chicago Blackhawks team on Saturday night, Florida was up to the challenge, clinching a 4-2 win off the back of those very same depth players.

After relying heavily on a select few players to produce over the past few seasons, the Panthers have now seemed to find a perfect mix between their established stars and bottom six, becoming one of the more enjoyable teams to watch in the NHL in the process.

After enduring financial difficulties stemming from low attendance over the past few seasons, they seem more exciting than ever in a tightly contested Central Division. Marchment’s progression from Undrafted Free Agent to potential NHL regular has similarly been exciting and encouraging, and I have reason to believe he could find himself with a full-time role in the foreseeable future.

It’s been an impressive start to the 2020-21 season for the Florida Panthers overall, and in spite of the loss of some of their top offensive players in this past offseason, the team is off to a terrific start, and I have reason to believe that Mason Marchment, could continue to be a reason why.