Wednesday’s opener felt like a bit of a tease. Hockey is back and then immediately followed by a couple of nights off. Saturday night, Hockey Night in Canada, marks the return and with it the chance to see if this is a team of destiny that is going to be first club ever to go 82 and 0 or the cold dose of reality kicks in. Since the Leafs play the Red Wings it would be nice to pretend that 82-0-0 is possible at least for one more night (or potentially even through the next couple of games as well.)
Forced preamble aside, here are some stray thoughts on the Maple Leafs one game into the season.
The right people answered
If the post Mitch Marner era is going to go off without a hitch there are three players that needed to step up and answer the call.
William Nylander’s three point night is a good sign that he’s ready to show that despite steadily improving throughout his career, he’s not ready to stop just yet. And while two of those points might have come on empty nets, a less cynical way of looking at it would be to say that it was his shot that was deflected for the Leafs first goal of the season and that his clearing of the zone when the Canadiens had the extra attacker allowed for Auston Matthews to get the insurance marker and equally important not have the burden of going goalless into the second game of the season.
You can point to Matias Maccelli, who picked up an assist on the game winning goal, as another success story. It was his claiming of the puck and setting up Matthew Knies for a breakaway that led to the puck finding its way to Morgan Rielly for the Leafs’ third goal. Maccelli is on that line to be a playmaker and that certainly was a play he made.
And of course, Rielly himself. A two point night that rubber stamped that Rielly is ready to produce this year and without Marner to play a key role on defensive zone breakouts to create offensive situations, the Leafs will need more from Rielly in that regard even if naysayers will point to his inability to get back on Oliver Kapanen’s shorthanded goal as a concern. \
Having McMann immediately produce and show that he belongs on the Tavares line was a plus, as was Jarnkrok making his case for staying in the lineup. On ice differentials be damned, it was a promising win.
Negative Nancy returns…
If there are aspects of the Maple Leafs game that stand out for criticism one game into the season, it seems that the powerplay is the immediate issue. The powerplay looking exactly the same as last season but without having Mitch Marner’s skill involved is a step backwards on something that was already in need of a complete overhaul. The Leafs going 0 for 2 isn’t the end of the world, but giving up a shorthanded goal as the Leafs ran their predictable zone entry play is a sign of things to come and over the course of the 82 game season it would be nice to see a greater reliance on skill and less on structure. Keep a few set plays but stop forcing them every time so that teams know to look for them.
It also feels appropriate to point on that the one even strength goal that the Canadiens scored came against the Domi line and specifically with Max Domi not sure if he was supposed to cover Gallagher or Bolduc, choosing neither and the puck going into the net.
There can be some praise for Domi recognizing that Robertson and Joshua didn’t gain control of the puck in the offensive zone and Domi was able to get back into the Leafs defensive zone in a timely matter, but the idea of an extended run of Domi at centre doesn’t seem ideal, especially when Nicolas Roy’s line seemed like a success story.
The reality might be that Domi needs to stay at centre, but given Roy spent all of his time with Joshua in the preseason, it seems like a Cowan-Roy-Joshua third line has some appeal and the Leafs can explore what Domi can do between Lorentz and Jarnkrok, both who are more capable of covering off Domi’s defensive shortcomings.
Silver linings on the Maple Leafs demotions
Cut day is without a doubt the most interesting part of the pre-season and after a weekend of waivers and final(-ish) rosters being announced on Monday, the players on the outside looking in are clear. It’s safe to say that every player that is mentioned in this post would rather be a Maple Leaf but that doesn’t mean that their assignment to the Marlies isn’t in the best interest of them or the organization. Here are a few silver linings from the recent camp cuts.
Henry Thrun gets a proper reset on his career
If there was a player that I didn’t want to see claimed off of waivers from the Leafs it was probably Thrun. With the Leafs blueline being quite long in the tooth, it seemed like youthful legs with the promise of some puck movement was about the perfect return for Ryan Reaves.
With the Sharks, Thrun was asked to do too much. He came into the league at 22 and was immediately playing in the top four on a bad team. Last season, he bounced between the second and third pairings, as well as dealt with injuries. At 24, there is still plenty of time to get it right and opportunity to find his place in the NHL.
Time on the Marlies under John Gruden should help Thrun do that more than relying on limited rotations into the Leafs lineup. That would maybe give him a chance to fight for the permanent bottom pairing role, but after Thrun showing he can add value higher up in the lineup (at least on the Sharks), seeing if there is more to get out of him after some development time is the right call.
There will be blueline injuries coming the Leafs way this season and Thrun will get his chance to fight for a permanent spot on the team this season. It’s just that the long game benefits him and the Leafs more.
Primeau puts Dennis Hildeby exactly where he should be
It would be disappointing if the Maple Leafs don’t take at least a quick look at the progress of Dennis Hildeby at some point this season, but much like last year, it is not in Hildeby’s best interest to be thrown straight into that role on the opening night of the season.
Getting regular starts and battling for the net with Akhtyamov on the Marlies is the right place for Hildeby and with the likelihood that the Leafs won’t be able to carry three goaltenders throughout the season and Primeau eventually finding himself on waivers, there is still a path to the NHL for Hildeby, who also benefited from a lot of time in the Leafs net during the preseason and that experience showing that more time is needed for him.
David Kampf is a security blanket
It’s not ideal that the Leafs still have a sizeable amount of Kampf’s contract on their payroll and I’m sure that Kampf, who at least at half of his salary would be an NHL player somewhere, doesn’t want to be in the AHL at this point in his career would rather find a way to move on. That doesn’t change the fact that Kampf is still part of the organization and it’s not the worst thing.
The salary cap doesn’t allow for Kampf coming up to the Leafs anytime soon but if a centre finds their way into a long term injury situation, Kampf is an option that can be trusted as an every night player for an extended stretch.
It’s also helpful that Kampf has to still push himself as Travis Boyd and Jacob Quillan will both be making their cases for callups ahead of Kampf.
Kampf is also a potential asset for the Leafs at some point in the season and injuries run rampant through the NHL. The Leafs have shown they can make the most of late round draft picks and potentially at some point in the season there will be a team that might consider Kampf as a cheap but necessary acquisition.
Jacob Quillan was done dirty but there is still a path to the NHL
Quillan making the Leafs solely on being the best contract to use for LTIR cap relief isn’t exactly living the dream, especially after meeting the expectations of Craig Berube in training camp and arguably playing a position of need in Scott Laughton’s absence.
Still, things would have been communicated to Quillan beforehand and coming into camp he could read the depth chart as well as any of us and Jacob would have had to have known that he’d be fighting for ice time in the NHL.
In the short term, Quillan needs a strong start with the Marlies and show that the Leafs are better off with Quillan playing centre instead of Domi even if it comes at the cost of Easton Cowan playing a few games in the AHL.
He is situated to be the cheap centre callup option coming in $200k less than Kampf’s buried salary allotment and with the Leafs regularly being pushed up to the cap he’ll be needed.
The most game ready and has been playing version of Quillan is likely the better alternative to the going in cold from the press box approach so starting the season with the Marlies is probably the best option and arguably one the Leafs might want to consider with Cowan as well if the path to the lineup doesn’t emerge in the next couple of games.