With Christmas Day just around the corner, we take a look at what the Toronto Maple Leafs organization has on their wishlist this holiday season. Merry Christmas!
All I Want for Christmas: Toronto Maple Leafs
A Leafs-centric World Juniors
With five Leafs prospects heading to Finland for the World Juniors this year, Toronto fans will be eager to see their team’s future on full display. William Nylander, expected to lead the way for Sweden, could absolutely be singled out as the best player at the tournament, and so it would be a disappointment if he’s not among the top scorers. He still leads the AHL in scoring by a sound margin (despite being only 19) and should carry that to the World Juniors against younger competition. Nylander’s Tre Kronor team will also be joined by Dmytro Timashov, a 2015 Leafs pick playing with the Quebec Remparts and raising eyebrows as another skilled forward. Kasperi Kapanen, who has had some injury troubles this year with the Toronto Marlies, will join the host Finland team, with a lot of pressure on him having played in the tournament before. Finally, the Canadian contingent this year will include both Mitch Marner and Travis Dermott. Marner has been shredding the OHL this year with London, and held the scoring lead before leaving for selection camp. He and Dylan Strome will both be heavily relied upon by Canada for their skill, particularly Marner’s speed and playmaking on the larger ice surface. Travis Dermott has also had a breakout season with the Erie Otters, and could slot into the Canadian defence as a key puck-mover. Overall, the Leafs are incredibly well represented at this year’s World Junior Championship, so all fans should be excited for what could potentially be a battle highlighted mostly by players who will one day wear the blue and white.
A Better Pittsburgh Penguins Team
One of the key pieces of the Phil Kessel trade in July was the conditional first round pick sent to Toronto. However, that pick is contingent upon the Pittsburgh Penguins making the playoffs in 2015/16. If they do not appear in the postseason, the Leafs won’t receive Pittsburgh’s first until 2017 (and the Leafs won’t give up their second until then either). Pushing the pick back a year would only slow the rebuild in Toronto, so it’s certainly in their best interests for the Penguins to make the playoffs this year, granting them another choice in the first round of a relatively deep draft. However, therein lies the problem. Pittsburgh currently sit sixth in the Metropolitan Division, 5 points behind Ottawa for the last wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. They’re just 6 points ahead of the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets. This season, Leafs fans should all be cheering for the Penguins, and hoping their team’s gift of Phil Kessel will help them get to the playoffs.
More Scoring from Trade Assets
Last summer, the Maple Leafs made headlines for all the low-risk, short-term contracts they signed. Shawn Matthias, P.A. Parenteau, Brad Boyes, and Matt Hunwick were all smart free agent pickups, as well as Michael Grabner who was acquired in a trade. The idea was that these players would fill roster spots on the NHL club as an alternative to young prospects being called up too early, harming their development. Then, if these short-term players were successful, they were to be dealt at the trade deadline for more assets and picks, which motivated the players themselves to play well and make it to a contending team. Now, it looks like some of those signings were more successful than others. Parenteau looks more like he did in Colorado than Montreal, and has 17 points so far. Hunwick has impressed many, complementing Morgan Rielly well. However, players like Boyes and Matthias have been less successful. They’ve shown promise, but haven’t produced quite yet – at least not in the way that’s most valuable to a team stocking up for a playoff run. There are many pieces on the Leafs that could be sold off at the deadline, such as Tyler Bozak or Michael Grabner to a team looking for special teams help. Or perhaps a veteran defenceman, like Roman Polak or even Dion Phaneuf? The Toronto Maple Leafs will definitely look very different in early February than they will in early March. However, this plan would be helped greatly by some more scoring from their most tradeable assets, on short-term contracts.
A Bigger Role for Frankie Corrado
Leafs fans were over the moon when their team managed to snag Frank Corrado off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks. A young (22-year-old) right-handed defensive prospect with a high ceiling is rarely something you get for free. However, it was confusing to see him kept in the press box for so long, not managing to make it into the Leafs lineup until December 15th, more than two months after he was claimed. Even then, he was restricted to 8 minutes of ice time. In his two other NHL games since, he’s had around 12 minutes. So, that leaves Leafs fans begging for more. There’s excitement surrounding Corrado, and fans would love to see him play a bigger role with the team. Being one of only two right-handed defencemen on the team, it would stand to reason that he’d get more of an opportunity. In the new year, it’s possible he will see more of the ice, particularly once Roman Polak is traded (which he inevitably will be). Once Corrado gets a more extended chance in the lineup, we’ll see what his chances are of reaching his ceiling.
