CREDIT: JIM VAN HORNE
London Knights rookie Mitch Marner has already wooed fans with his play this season.

Mitch Marner is a special player.

In his rookie season with the London Knights, the diminutive forward has shown flashes of brilliance on more than one occasion. He turned 16 in May; he scored his first Ontario Hockey League goal in early October against the Guelph Storm; and he is averaging around a point per game for the Knights.

“Right from the beginning of training camp, you could tell he was special,” Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter told reporters at practice. “I think the fans notice it already.When he wheels in from behind the net, I think they get very excited because they know what's going on ... He does have that little flare.”

One of the moves in Marner's arsenal is the backhand pass that he's executed with perfection already this season. It's a rare skill, but according to Knights colour commentator Jim Van Horne, it's one that Marner is very comfortable with at just 16.

“I had a trainer back in Ajax, and his thing was that you're not always going to be able to make a pass on your forehand,” said Marner. “Someone will be good enough to steal the puck from you when you try to move it to your forehand. And so, ever since I was about six or seven, I've been doing backhand passes every day.”

Given that the Knights are gunning for their third straight OHL title, expect them to try to bulk up the team as the season wears on. To do that, you usually trade your younger prospects for established players.

Don't expect the Knights to move Marner at any cost.

“Once all of our Ontario scouts had seen him play, it was pretty clear we were all of the opinion that Marner was a special player who could play through his size limitations and excel in the OHL,” explained Mark Edwards, Hockey Prospect's director of scouting.

“It's not that we overlooked his size. It did factor in on our final ranking, if he was a little bit bigger we would've had him ranked in our top five without blinking.”

Marner began his career on the fourth line, like most rookies do. He and Christian Dvorak reminded fans of the Kyle Platzer-Remi Elie rookie combination that helped put London over the top in the 2012/13 season.

Now the Thornhill native is playing more experienced roles in London, including on the power play. And he loves every second of it.

“It's more pressure,” he said. “But it's pressure that you want. As a player you want to know that the team will put you on in moments when you have to perform.”

“Those are moments that define a hockey player. And those are the best moments.”

When he was first introduced to the media, Marner was just 5 ft. 7 in., weighing 130 pounds. Now, standing at 5 ft. 10 in. and 164 pounds, his offseason goals of getting a little bigger and stronger were realized.

“Lots of hard work: weights, muscle, pretty much everything,” said Marner, who worked out with Adam Lloyd of Champion Athletic Development in Woodbridge. “It's a longer season and I had to be ready for it.”

He may still be small, but Marner packs a punch.

“You can't let defencemen think that you're not going to hit them,” he smiled. “You have to make them feel something, and then maybe next time they won't make that play, or they won't take you lightly.”

Marner recorded 41 goals and 86 points in 56 games for the Don Mills Flyers, Max Domi's former team. He also put up four points in 13 games for the St. Michael's Jr. A Buzzers as a call-up, and is eligible for the 2015 NHL draft, along with Erie Otters superstar Connor McDavid.

When the London Knights unveiled their new jerseys during the offseason, they turned Marner into a model.

His goal then was to put on the jersey for every game this season. And with the way he's played so far, that goal too could be realized come the season's end.