The Stars and their amazing top scorer

He was never drafted, went through the ECHL and established himself in the National League at age 26. Mason Marchment doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a prolific striker, but that’s what he’s quietly becoming.

Guillaume Lefrancois
The Press

Marchment will be at work Saturday night with the Dallas Stars against the Canadiens. He will do so as a member of the second line of the Stars, but above all, as a top scorer.

With six points (three goals, three assists), he has indeed picked up where he left off last year. With the Panthers, he had 47 points in 54 games, but the roster was “too tight under the cap” to bring him back, he said.

The Stars therefore tried their luck, offering him this summer a 4-year agreement, good for 4.5 million dollars per season, to a player who had precisely that season as proof of his talent. Before this 2021-2022 campaign, his experience in the NHL was limited to 37 games. In the American League, he had played three full seasons, having never amassed more than 26 points in a campaign.

“I had to climb the ranks as a fourth line player, which led me to be more robust and better defensively,” he said after the Stars’ morning practice. When I mastered that, I was able to focus a little more on the attack and there, I play with very good offensive players like Tyler Seguin. »

His size of 6 ft 4 and 210 lb obviously plays in his favor. “For a guy his size, his skills are impressive and that’s what makes him a special player,” said Seguin, beside him in the locker room.

Pete DeBoer sees another explanation. “He’s a guy who takes advantage of disadvantageous confrontations, believes the new head coach of the Stars. If you can send him against defenders 5-6 and third or fourth lines, it’s a matchup you can exploit. Before, he was a talented guy, low in training, who took advantage of these confrontations. Now he plays on the top two lines and continues to generate offense. »

A tragedy

Marchment suffered a tragedy this summer when his father, former player Bryan Marchment, died suddenly in Montreal on the eve of the draft on July 6. The father was a scout for the San José Sharks.

A Stars publicist told us that Mason Marchment was not yet ready to discuss these events.

His teammate Ty Dellandrea was also affected by the tragedy since he comes from the same area as the Marchments, in the northern suburbs of Toronto. “We play golf together in the summer, I know the family and I did my minor hockey with one of his cousins,” he described.

Dellandrea believes players are all pushing for Marchment, under the circumstances.

“It was really appalling as a situation. Bryan was a good guy and he adored Mason. So we take for him, we want him to have a good year. His father watches him from above and he can be proud of it. »