The Toronto Maple Leafs forward elected to skate after missing practice on Wednesday. As Mitch Marner prepared for his Toronto Maple Leafs to host the Seattle Kraken at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday, he couldn’t help feeling bummed about the scheduling conflict for his game and Canada’s Gold Medal Game against Czechia at the 2023 World Juniors in Halifax. "It sucks that we won't be able to watch that gold medal game." Marner says he's been trying to follow the tournament since it started on Dec. 26 and has says he's found the play the play of 17-year-old Canadian forward Connor Bedard to be "special". "What a talent, what a move that was the other night (on the overtime goal against Slovakia). Just how he finds the ice so well, getting to the net, getting the puck there, not always the prettiest way to score. But fun to watch, got a lot of skill, that shot is unreal. There’s a lot of skill there, been great to watch for me." Bedard is the consensus pick to go No. 1 at the 2023 NHL Draft in June and his skill set is appreciated up and down the league, from younger offensive stars like Marner to 39-year-old veteran defensemen like Mark Giordano. "I think any time you’re able to put up the numbers he’s been able to put up in that tournament, it’s a pretty good tournament," Giordano said. "It’s cool to see him doing it in the big moments. You know the other team is keying in on him and he’s still able to put up those big goals in big moments that are huge for the team. “ Canada is in the final game for the fourth consecutive year and have won two of the last three championships. The puck is set to drop at 6:30 p.m. ET on TSN in Canada.
