Top 25 Under 25 –
#10 – Marko Dano
5’11” 212 lbs – Winger – Shoots Left
NHL 2017-2018 Season: 23 GP – 2G – 1A – 3PTS – 6PIM
NHL Career Stats: 130 GP – 19G – 26A – 45PTS – 40PIM
Marko Dano became very familiar with the press box during the 2017-18 season for the Winnipeg Jets, being a healthy scratch 59 times during the regular season (including a stretch of 30 straight games) and for all 17 playoff games.
When Dano was in the lineup, the results weren’t great. Mind you, he was playing with noted sniper Matt Hendricks a lot, so that didn’t really help. He also averaged 7:11 of ice time, the lowest of the 28 skaters for the Jets last year.
Dano’s career points per game is 0.35, and was 0.39 before last year’s down turn in performance. That number is ahead of the career points per game numbers for Adam Lowry (0.32), Andrew Copp (0.26) and Brandon Tanev (0.20). He has offensive skills, and is fairly sound defensively, which is why the Jets keep him around and don’t risk waiving him. He just has to find his way into the lineup and stick.
One possibility that could put him into the mix is the nearing return of Nic Petan. Winnipeg won’t want to waive either player, and instead will likely be sending down one of Kristian Vesalainen or Brendan Lemieux. With a hole created with Vesalainen’s absence (my prediction) Dano could slot into the fourth line with Jack Roslovic and Mathieu Perreault. I would be okay with that.
