Mason Marchment is ‘living the dream’ and becoming a key contributor for the Florida 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 before being mobbed by his teammates. He’ll kick his leg up or drop down to one knee on the ice or throw his arms into the air as his yell provides an audible summary of his feelings.
“I’m living the dream,” Marchment said in January. “I’m playing in the NHL.”
Bryan Marchment, Mason’s father and an NHL veteran of 926 games, has seen his son living the dream from a distance. The elder Marchment has only watched one of Mason’s games live — his NHL debut on Jan. 2, 2020, with the Toronto Maple Leafs. COVID-19 protocols and his day job as a scout and development coach with the San Jose Sharks make it difficult, if not impossible, to be in the same arena as his son.
“I don’t miss a game,” Bryan Marchment said. “His mother definitely doesn’t miss a game. It’s just been fun to watch.
“To be honest,” he continued, “I’m just so proud of him that he’s playing and just doing what he’s doing and enjoying what he’s doing.”
There have been plenty of opportunities to celebrate during his breakout season. Marchment has 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 look past the individual statistics for a moment. Marchment’s biggest achievement is the steady playing time for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.
It’s a dream that didn’t always look like it would be reality.
He was a late bloomer in the hockey scene after he decided to commit to the sport as a teenager. He was an undrafted prospect who toiled in the Maple Leafs’ minor-league system.
And 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 to overcome.
But the work ethic and determination never wavered and now 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 NHL 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 at the start of the year, 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.
“The first couple of games back, I felt a little step behind,” Marchment said. “I was a step behind a play here, a second behind a play there. ... It [was] tough coming in and out of the lineup and then COVID and all of these things. But no excuses; I’ve got to put my head down and work harder.”
Once the playing time steadied out, the points have come in bunches.
Marchment has six multi-point games this season, five of which have come in the past 12 games.
That includes his two-goal, 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. His 64 hits are the sixth-most among Panthers forwards despite playing at least a dozen fewer games than each of the five ranked above him.
“He brings a dimension that not a lot of our players have,” Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “He creates a lot of different things with his size, his reach, his tenacity, and gives us a little physical presence.”
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 scored his first power play goal in Thursday’s 3-0 win over the Ottawa Senators — a gritty deflection while in the crease that served as the final blow after a barrage of shot attempts on Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg.
“He’s earned it,” Brunette said. “He’s played at a really high level and he’s deserved every opportunity on the power play. He’s trying to make the most of it.”
‘Grinded my way up’
That has been his mindset his whole career. It had to be considering his delayed start in the sport.
“I’ve kind of grinded my way up,” Marchment said.
As Bryan Marchment recalls it, his son briefly played hockey when Bryan was still playing for San Jose but “he didn’t really like it” at that point.
It took a few years for his interest in the sport to flourish.
“He didn’t really bust out until he was 17 or 18 years old,” Bryan Marchment said. “Basically, the journey goes from there.”
Marchment’s first year of junior hockey didn’t come until he was 19 years old, so he was playing from behind in terms of development.
He quickly got a glimpse at what future NHL talent looked like.
Three of his teammates on the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League that 2014-2015 season: Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat.
“That was a good team and good way to learn how to be a professional even on the junior level,” Bryan Marchment said. “He just ate everything up.”
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 ECHL 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 six-game playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Just trying to be a complete player,” Marchment said. “Whatever I can do to help.”
Living the dream, as he would say.
This story was originally published March 5, 2022 at 10:35 AM.
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