The Utah Hockey Club traded for John Marino this summer to help bolster their top two defense pairings. However, he arrived at training camp with an injury and was listed as week-to-week.
Shortly after Sean Durzi went out with an injury, Utah announced that both Durzi and Marino would miss months after undergoing surgery.
Two months and 24 days after surgery, Marino made his season debut against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, a 5-3 loss. This debut came somewhat ahead of schedule, considering the team announced in October that he would miss three to four months. This was also Marino’s first NHL game in nine months, so some rust was expected, considering he didn’t even have a conditioning stint in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Recapping Marino’s Utah HC Debut
Marino showed precisely why he did not need time in the AHL to get back into shape. He played over 18 minutes, ranked third among Utah defensemen. Utah also dominated the play in over 15 minutes Marino spent on the ice at even strength.
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With Marino on the ice at five-on-five, Utah had 18 shot attempts, seven shots, 10 scoring chances, six high-danger chances, and 1.13 expected goals. Without him, the team had five shot attempts, two shots, four scoring chances, two high-danger chances, and 0.21 expected goals. Marino led all Utah skaters in on-ice shot attempts, unblocked shot attempts, shots on goal, and expected goal percentage at five-on-five. He finished the game with the second-highest “GameScore” among Utah defensemen according to Hockey Stat Cards.
Marino was also one of five skaters on the team to play more than two minutes on the penalty kill, and he allowed two shots and zero high-danger chances. The only concern is that despite spending plenty of time in the offensive zone, he did not get involved offensively. He finished the game with zero shot attempts, which is surprising considering he was on the ice for 18 shot attempts but none of them were his.
Marino Utah HC Debut Grade: A
The only stat Marino recorded on the night was one giveaway. Will this stop me from giving Marino an ‘A’ for his first performance with Utah? No.
Utah dominated with him on the ice. His defensive presence and positioning positively impacted his team’s success, even without the puck. Marino has a positive shot attempt share, scoring chance share, and expected goal share in three straight seasons, and to see him come out and provide some stability to Utah’s back end, limiting scoring chances and moving pucks, was a great sign for his future with the club. This is exactly what General Manager Bill Armstrong brought him to Utah to do.
To go back to the one concern from last night’s game, Marino is not an offensive defenseman. His career-high in points is 26, set in his rookie season in 2019-20. With Utah, he isn’t expected to produce offense, and he should not be graded based on how many points or scoring chances he puts up. However, the concern is that Marino spent much of his 18 minutes of ice time in the offensive zone and couldn’t get the puck on net. Even so, Marino has never been a big shooter, only averaging 2.29 shot attempts per game in his career, and Utah is not big on shooting pucks from the point, preferring to play for possession.
Considering Marino finished as one of four Utah skaters with a positive plus/minus, his dominant on-ice stats, and the circumstances of not playing an NHL game for nine months, he deserves an ‘A’ for this performance. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if he got on the stat sheet.
Stats via NaturalStatTrick
