{"id":8328,"date":"2017-04-03T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=8328"},"modified":"2017-04-03T16:20:38","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T20:20:38","slug":"windsor-spitfires-toronto-maple-leafs-jeremy-bracco-nhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/04\/03\/windsor-spitfires-toronto-maple-leafs-jeremy-bracco-nhl\/","title":{"rendered":"Windsor Spitfires Star Jeremy Bracco Making Strides Toward the NHL"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 current youngsters making waves across the NHL, you\u2019d be forgiven for losing track of the prospects still working to crack the big club. Nonetheless, 2015 draft pick Jeremy Bracco<\/strong> is doing his best to follow in Mitch Marner<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s footsteps in the OHL playoffs. His Windsor Spitfires, now in a 3-3\u00a0series deadlock with the London Knights, are trying to play spoiler as they prepare to host the Memorial Cup in May.<\/p>\n

With 83\u00a0points in 57 games this year, including 32 since the Kitchener Rangers shipped him to Windsor in February, Bracco is yet another reason for optimism among Toronto hockey fans. He\u2019s had an exciting few months, winning gold with Team USA at the World Juniors in January. He was rewarded for it all last week.<\/p>\n

Bracco signed his entry-level contract with the Leafs just under two weeks ago, and the left winger had nothing but praise for the organization that just locked him up for three years. \u201cIt means a lot,\u201d he effused after game two of Windsor’s first-round series. \u201cI\u2019ve worked real hard for it, and I\u2019m glad that [the Leafs] helped me along the way to try and become the player I want to be. They\u2019ve been nothing but supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Picked 61st overall by the Leafs the day after they drafted Marner, Bracco shares more similarities with Toronto\u2019s right wing phenom than his draft year. Close friends off the ice, both Bracco and Marner make up for their short stature with their speed and creativity with the puck.<\/p>\n

Standing just 5\u20199\u201d, Bracco\u2019s ability on his feet has made him one of the most potent offensive weapons in junior hockey. At times, he can be seen skating laps around the opposing net with the puck until he finds an opportunity he likes.<\/p>\n

Earlier this season with Kitchener, he briefly caught the attention of Leafs fans with a 26-game point streak that inflated the price Windsor later paid for him at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Watching the Spitfires play, nobody is more recognizable than Bracco. His long black hair sticks out the back of his helmet, and he\u2019s usually the smallest player on the ice. What stands out most, though, is the truly bizarre way he moves around the offensive zone.<\/p>\n

Quicker than almost anyone in the OHL, Bracco says his ten-and-two sideways skating style has its roots in the years of figure skating he did when he was younger. The way he picks up speed from his edges resembles Carolina Hurricanes star Jeff Skinner<\/a><\/strong>, who\u2019s well-known for his own background in figure skating.<\/p>\n

Bracco grew up watching players like Skinner, which influenced him to try and complement his hockey skills with some extra skating help. \u201cI was taught to always work on it and try to be elusive, especially as a smaller guy,\u201d said Bracco. \u201cIt\u2019s just kind of stuck since then. I\u2019m glad I learned it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the NHL Rookie Tournament in September, Bracco told reporters he\u2019d been working with the Maple Leafs\u2019 skating guru Barb Underhill regularly in the offseason. By working on his strengths, Bracco has now established himself as a potential piece of Toronto\u2019s exciting future.<\/p>\n

Leafs fans got a glimpse of Bracco in his short stint with the Toronto Marlies late last season, but they won\u2019t have that luxury this year with the Spitfires guaranteed to play into late May. He\u2019ll be in Toronto next year, though, eligible to play in either the AHL or the NHL.<\/p>\n

Bracco is not a perfect player, of course. His size does sometimes seem to frustrate him, and you can’t count on him to be the first player back when play goes toward his own end. He’s pretty much as-advertised: a fast, creative forward who runs play all over the offensive zone. He’s one of the best scoring wingers in the OHL.<\/p>\n

Right now, though, Bracco’s\u00a0focus is firmly on the task ahead, with an opportunity to match his friend Marner\u2019s OHL and Memorial Cup championships. He picked the OHL over Boston College at the beginning of last season, and now he\u2019s hoping to see it pay off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the challenge,\u201d said Bracco.<\/p>\n

A challenge it will no doubt be, with the London Knights standing in the way. He and the Spitfires are gearing up for Tuesday’s game seven, where this phenomenal clash with their 401 rivals will be settled, for now at least.<\/p>\n

The Leafs’ brass will surely have their eye on Bracco during these OHL playoffs, as he tries to build\u00a0himself a future in the NHL.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n