The book on Nick Marson
He looms as a long shot to be picked at this month’s Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft. But in doing due diligence on Nick Marson, it shows that the 15-year old goalie had more than a high-end season for the lowly Sudbury Under 16 Nickel Capitals of the Great North Under 18 Hockey League.
This season’s story began when Marson was not chosen as one of the two goalies for his hometown Soo U18 Greyhounds of the Great North loop. Undaunted, Marson — who was just 14 years old at the time — left his parents home in the Soo to head to Sudbury to try out for the U16 Nickel Capitals. He impressed U16 Nickel Capitals head coach Jordan Cheechoo enough to be offered a spot on the team.
Despite the fact that his parents preferred that he stay home in the Soo and play at the U16 AA level, Marson showed his maturity and determination by instead opting to pack his bags for Sudbury and sign an AAA card to play for the U16 Nickel Capitals. And play he did — and extremely well — over the course of the 2022-2023 season.
Marson, who did not turn 15 years old until December 16, certainly showed his capabilities in the U16 Nickel Capitals net. He posted a 7-5-1 record with a 3.74 goals against average while routinely facing more than 40 shots per game. Notably, the U16 Nickel Capitals were by far the most penalized team in the eight member Great North with 555 penalty minutes in 28 regular season games. Which means that the Sudbury goalies were often facing the opposing team’s power play. It is also worth noting that while Marson had a personal record of 7-5-1, the U16 Nickel Capitals were only 4-11-0 in the games that he did not play.
While showing his net worth for the U16 Nickel Capitals, an untimely injury cost Marson a shot at playing for Team NOHA at the current OHL Cup Tournament. Shortly before the mid February Team NOHA evaluation camp, Marson tore a muscle in his right hip and was advised by Pro Physio Rehab Centre in Sudbury to not participate in the Team NOHA evaluation camp.
The injury would cause Marson to miss most of the rest of the regular season and he did return in time to start two of the U16 Nickel Capitals three games at the Great North’s end of season championship tournament.
A knock on Marson at the beginning of the season was his lack of size. But Marson has since grown two inches and now stands in at 5-foot-11, 183 pounds.
Not being a part of Team NOHA relative to the hip injury may work against Marson in the eyes of OHL general managers and scouts ahead of the April 21-22 priority selections draft. But if all of the above information is seriously considered by the right OHL general manager or scout, Marson just might be worth a team taking a flyer on as a later round draft pick.
