Mason Marchment might perhaps be the biggest mistake of Kyle Dubas' tenure as general manager in Toronto, and new General manager John Chayka can right that wrong.
The Uxbridge, Ont. Native was let down by his hometown team, the Maple Leafs traded Marchment for Denis Malgin, who played 83 NHL games after the trade.
Marchment since being traded by the Maple Leafs has played 366 games, with 233 points for four different teams. An extreme late bloomer, Marchment is now a pending UFA, and the Maple Leafs have been linked to the forward.
Marchment is a 50-point, middle-six winger who is 6'5 and provides strong physicality and capable defence in his own end, is responsible with the puck, and has an excellent work ethic.
The recently turned 31-year-old is an unrestricted free agent and is likely going to cost a pretty penny on the open market, but he would certainly shore up a weakness in the forward group and provide depth on the wings.
With the state of the league now, there is too much talent; depth is crucial on lines one through four. Adding someone like Marchment can make this lineup significantly better in the middle-six.
Marchment came up through Toronto before leaving and breaking out elsewhere
Marchment is like Darren Raddysh, an extreme case of a late bloomer. While rare, it is not unheard of. Marchment was traded from Toronto for a centre who, while younger, was nowhere near as skilled and physical as Marchment was.
He played five years in the Leafs organization, and while his numbers were not bad with the Marlies over five seasons, after being traded and developing with the Panthers organization, he saw drastic improvement at the NHL level.
He developed into a good top-six winger and spent time in good organizations with the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars before being traded to the Seattle Kraken and Columbus Blue Jackets.
He certainly has an NHL body; being 6'5 and physically strong. Once he went to an organization that had better development, they turned him into an excellent trade for them.
Bringing him back would give the Maple Leafs the size and scoring they need
The Maple Leafs forward group has lacked size and toughness for a while now unless they were some fourth-line guy like Ryan Reaves.
Marchment provides the Leafs what they need with his level of physical play. If you could potentially have two Matthew Knies-like players in the top six is absolutely something that makes the Toronto Maple Leafs significantly better.
On top of Marchment being a very physical player, his scoring numbers are fantastic. After being on a bad team in Seattle, he got traded to the Blue Jackets, where, in 39 games picked up 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points and was a +21.
Even if Marchment is someone who ends up on your third line, that is a very good thing; it means Toronto did a good job of adding depth this offseason.
Having a left side of your forward group being some order of Gavin McKenna, Marchment and Easton Cowan, is a very cheap group side given their production and talent, and has incredible upside.
In terms of the Maple Leafs last season Marchment would have been the fifth-highest scoring on the team with 45 points, and that is with him playing on teams that are not strong offensively in the Blue Jackets and Kraken.
If you pair him on a line with Tavares and Knies, his numbers would likely see a significant boost.
Ultimately, the Maple Leafs will have to actually win him over in free agency and get him to commit by signing a long-term deal. In a very weak free agency class, Marchment certainly looks like one of the most attractive options available in free agency, and he will not be coming cheap.
Where will Mason Marchment play in 2026-27
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