The Ontario Hockey League announced this morning that the Red Tilson Trophy, awarded annually to the league’s most outstanding player, has been awarded to London Knights forward and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner for the 2015-16 season.
San Jose Sharks prospect and Barrie Colts forward Kevin Labanc finished second in voting for the award, and Mike Amadio of the North Bay Battalion and Los Angeles Kings was third.
Marner had an exceptional year, recording 116 points in 57 games as he led the Knights, along with linemates Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk, to become the highest-scoring junior team in Canada. Marner’s incredible season has carried on into the playoffs, where his 37 points in 14 games have propelled London past rivals Kitchener and Erie into the OHL Final, which begins on Thursday against the Niagara IceDogs
The trophy, named after an Oshawa Generals player who was killed in action during the Second World War, is voted on by members of the media. Marner is the first Knights player to win the award since Michael Houser in 2011-12, and the sixth all-time. He’s also the second Maple Leafs prospect to be recognized with the trophy, the first being Connor Brown of the Erie Otters in 2013-14.
Connor McDavid won the award last season after his Otters were eliminated in the finals by Oshawa.
Marner was also voted the best playmaker and stickhandler in the Western Conference by the OHL coaches a few weeks ago in their yearly poll at the end of the regular season.
In what may be Marner’s final season with London, he has brought his career total up to 301 points over three years.
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