The big question dogging Mitch Marner of the Maple Leafs heading into his rookie season surrounded his slight frame, and whether a skinny 170-pound teenager could play at the NHL level.

Turns out the question needn’t have been asked. In fact, Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello wonders if the hockey world has the premise all wrong. Maybe Marner’s size actually works to his advantage.

“For a small player who is tremendously talented to be successful, they’re always playing against bigger players. They get accustomed to doing that,” said Lamoriello. “When they get to the next level, it’s not something new to them to be playing against bigger players.

“They learn to roll. They learn to adjust. They learn how to take hits. They learn all that at a young age. . . . Mitch made that adjustment because he’s always had to. He’s always been the underdog, but he has always succeeded.”

Marner leads all NHL rookies with 39 assists and is second to teammate Auston Matthews in team scoring with 56 points heading into Wednesday night’s date with the Blue Jackets in Columbus.

What almost certainly helped Marner — who might not get enough credit for his physical play — was an extra year in junior with the London Knights.

“It allowed him to mature as a player and as a person, and to get physically stronger,” said Lamoriello. “We still didn’t really know until he got here where he was at from the year before. It’s a tremendous credit to him because he worked all summer. He did the things that were asked of him. We all know the type of skill he has.

“He came in and he earned the position. Nothing was given to him. He’s here and doing well because he deserves to be here.”

There’s no question the Leafs under president Brendan Shanahan have acted differently. Previous regimes rushed any number of rookies into the lineup while hailing each as some sort of saviour.

Five rookies were held back last year — Marner, William Nylander, Nikita Soshnikov, Connor Brown and Zach Hyman — with two added this year: Matthews via the draft and Nikita Zaitsev as a free agent. All but Marner got to play with and against grown men: Matthews in Switzerland, Zaitsev in the KHL, the rest in the American Hockey League.

“Any time you go to a different level, it helps,” said Lamoriello. “It’s always better to bring a player up a year later than too soon.”

The result has been a remarkable season from this crop of rookies.

They have tallied 103 goals, one more than the previous team record set in 1943-44.

If Nylander registers a point against Columbus on Wednesday night, he’ll tie the team rookie record for consecutive games with a point at nine.

Nylander has also tied the team rookie mark for power-play goals with nine.

Hyman has matched the Leafs rookie standard for short-handed goals (three) and consecutive games with an assist (six).

Matthews — who scored a record four goals in the season opener — is two goals shy of Wendel Clark’s team rookie mark of 34.

Matthews is also two shy of Howie Meeker’s record for game-winners by a rookie (eight).

Marner sits one assist shy of Gus Bodnar’s team rookie assist record (40).

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The NHL doesn’t track totals for rookie statistics by team. The first-year players on the 1979-80 Oilers racked up 179 goals and 302 assists for 481 points. (The Leafs are at 103 goals and 160 assists for 263 points.)

What all this does is set a very high bar for next season.

“What you have to watch for is the commitment from the player,” said Lamoriello. “He has to work harder than he did the prior summer. Sometimes they relax. Sometimes they think everything is okay. But the second time around, they get a little more attention (from the other teams). It’s on the player whether the next year is to the level they want it to be. They have to be committed totally. That will determine their success.”

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