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Prospect Info: Marlies, Cyclones, and Prospect Discussion

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pfft, too many haters in here. I, for one, still get faint joy from hungover boxscore scrolling and seeing that our 2020 6th rounder got 1 A in a 6-2 stomping of substandard NCAA competition last night (as Joe Miller did for Harvard against St Lawrence College last night woooooo)

Malinoski 1 G 1 A. On a mini tear and his points/game is now at 0.74, up from 0.51 last year.

1 goal and 2 apples for Hirvonen last night... HIRVONEN HATERS IN THE MUD

Hildeby SV% has now dropped to .899... I'm not a regular Marlies watcher, so can't comment on his recent play, but he's looked great in the few AHL games I have seen, albeit clearly not ready in his NHL games. Hope he's not falling off.

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Although, seriously, what more can you expect from our 2021-24 drafts at the moment?
- Knies graduated with aplomb (easy to take for granted what was a hell of a pick!)
- Minten's ceiling may be low (he's only a 2nd rounder...) but he's doing fine in his first pro season
- Cowan's scoring is a bit down but he's still looking like a great late 1st (WJC performances are an overrated signal...)
- Danford's boxscore numbers are never going to excite (and you're welcome to argue for other picks we should have made!), but he's a late 1st rounder captaining one of the top OHL teams (and trading down is why we currently have a 2025 2nd rounder + 7th rounder Mayes)
- Grebenkin looking like a clever mid-round pick
- Despite recent wobbles, I think we can feel good about Hildeby and AA developing on the Marlies (and our goalie depth in general)
- Among other mid-late rounders, can pick out both encouraging (Chadwick, Johansson, McCue, Malinoski) and disappointing (Moldenhauer, Voit, Peksa) signs.

Repeating myself from previous posts, the 2020 draft looks disappointing, but that year's extra picks were quantity over quality, our 1st rounder died, and we've probably spent too much time debating a pair of late 2nd-early 3rd picks (Hirvonen, Niemela) from a poor draft year.

Sure, wring your hands about the general shallowness of our prospect pool after years of trading picks while trying to go for it in the playoffs, as is inevitable for any 'perennial contender' (I say that with some irony! But that's a separate debate...) Adjusting your expectations accordingly, the picks we have made are looking ok.
 
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Kiwi said:
The guy scores goals for fun and the guy playing 3C most of the season is a pass first playmaker allergic to shooting the puck

Give him 10 games ffs, what's the worst that can happen? Our secondary scoring still blows?
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I think they’re waiting to trade Robertson first maybe I unno but it doesn’t make any sense to have Steeves in the minors hes better than our whole bottom 6
 
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Really hope Steeves gets another chance, and in a secondary scoring role with offensively competent players, not on the 4th line for a few minutes with the likes of Reaves.
 
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Fogelhund said:
Once the high-water mark of the Leafs prospect pool, why isn’t Niemela in the NHL four years out from his stellar World Juniors?

“The very straightforward answer is strength and speed,” Maple Leafs assistant general manager Hayley Wickenheiser said.

Watching Niemela this season, too often he gets pushed off the puck while trying to execute creative hockey in the offensive zone. He has the smarts, and at 6 feet, Niemela isn’t tiny. But he hasn’t added enough requisite power in his frame and stride to help him drive play. And defensively, a lack of power has prevented him from making decisive defensive plays.

Now, adding size during the season is an uphill climb. But it’s hard not to sense the organization is starting to wonder whether Niemela can get his body NHL-ready. His on-ice responsibilities with the Marlies this season appear to have not taken a step, either.

“He’s really got to commit to getting his body to a place where he’s not going to get pushed off,” Wickenheiser said.

Niemela has the brain to play NHL games, but a change in managerial philosophy makes his long-term future in Toronto seem more in doubt than ever.

“The challenge is to try and rise up and make a very good hockey team,” Wickenheiser said. “It stacks the deck against some of the players, but I also think it’s a great opportunity: If you can continue to improve within the Marlies, there’s 31 other teams that are looking for players, too. If it doesn’t work out here, there may be an opportunity somewhere else.”
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Sounds like a size queen.
 
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I've never seen Steeves as more than a 4AAAA hockey player during his time called up, but he definitely merits being given a call up opportunity and a chance to see what he can bring.

Definitely can't do worse than the revolving door of players on the 4th line.

He's playing with a lot of confidence, and you can't underestimate what confidence can do.

Only rationale I can come up with for keeping him on the Marlies is he's going to be traded as part of a package and they want to keep interest in him, and are afraid if they call him up and he does nothing at the NHL level, that any interest in him would disappear.....
 
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I am ready to shuffle the deck on our 5-6-7 D. I have gone from a pro Benoit to a con.
Very little hockey sense.

Hakanpaa would be my first choice if healthy enough.

Not much talk of Benning but I think he is better than what we have up now. He has been an nhl defender for the last 5 years.
And why not give Rifai a try?
 
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LeafSteel said:
I've never seen Steeves as more than a 4AAAA hockey player during his time called up, but he definitely merits being given a call up opportunity and a chance to see what he can bring.

Definitely can't do worse than the revolving door of players on the 4th line.

He's playing with a lot of confidence, and you can't underestimate what confidence can do.

Only rationale I can come up with for keeping him on the Marlies is he's going to be traded as part of a package and they want to keep interest in him, and are afraid if they call him up and he does nothing at the NHL level, that any interest in him would disappear.....
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I kind of think Robertson is traded and Steeves is called up the same day. They know they aren't keeping Nick so why bring his replacement up to steal his minutes and shrink his value?
 
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Kiwi said:
The guy scores goals for fun and the guy playing 3C most of the season is a pass first playmaker allergic to shooting the puck

Give him 10 games ffs, what's the worst that can happen? Our secondary scoring still blows?
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Risk averse management?

Perhaps they just want to keep doing the same thing over and over until they get it?

Yes, we know AHL scoring <> NHL scoring

I wonder how many know the Leafs aren't one of the better offensive teams?

Leafs are 13th. Goal For/PG. NHL Stats

I think the top end blurs reality.

They're 12th. for GA/PG, so it isn't like they're the Panthers last year who were 1st. in GA/GP.
 
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nuck said:
I kind of think Robertson is traded and Steeves is called up the same day. They know they aren't keeping Nick so why bring his replacement up to steal his minutes and shrink his value?
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Counter to that is Robbys value is nothing, whatever value he might have had at the start of the year is gone, because teams have watched him play 47 games this year.
 
ULF_55 said:
Risk averse management?

Perhaps they just want to keep doing the same thing over and over until they get it?

Yes, we know AHL scoring <> NHL scoring

I wonder how many know the Leafs aren't one of the better offensive teams?

Leafs are 13th. Goal For/PG. NHL Stats

I think the top end blurs reality.

They're 12th. for GA/PG, so it isn't like they're the Panthers last year who were 1st. in GA/GP.
Click to expand...

The thing is there's no risk giving Steeves a go

Our secondary scoring already blows so I don't see how it can get worse
There is no downside
 
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