Mitch Marner Falls Out of Favour With Team Canada Ahead of Rematch With USA

During Saturday's game against Team USA, Mitch Marner found himself demoted to the second line after a lack of chemistry with Connor McDavid became apparent.

Going into Monday's must-win game against Finland, it appeared as though Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper's praise for Marner's skill set had begun to waver.

During warm-ups on Monday, Marner found himself demoted yet again, this time to the third line for Canada.

While that isn't a major deal in a best-on-best tournament, the fact that Marner had the second least amount of ice-time for Canada on Monday is a concern.

Only Travis Konecny, who was a healthy scratch on Saturday, played less than Marner's 12:46 against Finland on Monday.

With a couple of days off before Thursday's 4 Nations Face-Off finale against the U.S., it will be interesting to see if Marner slides further down the depth chart.

Given the playoff-like style of play in the first meeting, and the fact Marner has historically been underwhelming in the playoffs, we could very well see his role reduced even more as Cooper and company continue to ride the hot hands of Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and other stars for Canada who have delivered where Marner has not.