Like all NHL organizations, the Maple Leafs hope their young prospects thrive as they work on their craft at the amateur and minor professional levels. So you can imagine why Toronto management is thrilled by the performance of London Knights forward Mitch Marner this year. Just two days before his 19th birthday, Marner received the Ontario Hockey League’s highest individual honour when he won the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player in 2015-16.
“Mitch has shown his great passion, determination and skill throughout this entire Ontario Hockey League season and is very deserving of this distinction,” Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello said of Marner’s accomplishment.