Prospect Info: Marlies & Prospect Discussion

[hockeynorth]

Just turned 18 in May... and yes, he looks young, or maybe we are just getting old, or both?

I think it's going to be a few seasons before he's ready to play for us... which brings me to a question.

If you were drafted out of the CHL, you can't play in the AHL, until either you've played four seasons in the CHL, or you are 20 on January 1st....

So, Easton won't be 20 on January 1st, until 2026... which "might" suggest three more OHL seasons, and AHL eligibility in 2026/27.

However, he played 7 OHL regular season games in 2021/22 and 5 playoff games. Does this officially count as an "OHL Season"? If so, he has two more OHL seasons left, and he'd be eligible for the Marlies, for the 2025/26 season.

So the question for the board being... is 7 OHL games, enough to be considered a season?

Yes iirc

 

[weems]

Pretty much the same system but those Marlies during that Calder Cup win played like they wanted to win and I think that's the biggest difference from the NHL squad. They hounded the puck and never stopped moving their feet and they really attacked the net. I guess you could say they played more like how Carolina plays these days. It also helped that Johnsson went crazy those playoffs too haha.

That's interesting you bring up Carolina because they're an example of a very good possession team that is elite advanced stats wise across the board but is willing to give up the puck that leads to forechecking, winning races to 50/50 loose pucks and forcing the opposing defense to retrieve pucks in the corners under pressure. I would like to see us employ this playstyle into our game a little more because it's something that builds up and wears down a defense over a 7 game series.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Does Cowan wear a letter in London?

 

[Fogelhund]

Does Cowan wear a letter in London?

He likely was too young, and not important enough last year. They usually don't make rookies captains. I doubt that they've named their captains/Assistants for next year, and they don't even have a roster listed. I think we'll need to wait until late September to hear on this one.

 

[fahad203]

Is there any other benefit to signing a player to ELC other than giving him some pocket money?

He looks like he's few years away

 

[uncleben]

Is there any other benefit to signing a player to ELC other than giving him some pocket money?

He looks like he's few years away

You can spread out his signing bonuses over his slide years so that when he does turn pro his cap hit is lower

However, you are committed to at least 3 years of pro, so you're really hoping he'll continue to develop over the next couple of years

 

[The Iceman]

Johnsson went crazy as did Marchment and even Holl from what I remember. I always though Keefe’s undying loyalty towards Holl was because of the Calder cup Marlies win.

Johnsson and Sparks were the best Marlies when they won their Calder.
Ben Smith and Trevor Moore did a lot of the heavy lifting.

I thought Aaltonen was a legit 3-4th line centre prospect at that time.
Grunstrom went on a playoff heater scoring 8G
And some dude named Vince Loverde led the team with a +20 in 19 games.

​

 

[Fogelhund]

""

""

 

[Mitch nylander]

Johnsson and Sparks were the best Marlies when they won their Calder.
Ben Smith and Trevor Moore did a lot of the heavy lifting.

I thought Aaltonen was a legit 3-4th line centre prospect at that time.
Grunstrom went on a playoff heater scoring 8G
And some dude named Vince Loverde led the team with a +20 in 19 games.

​

As did I, thought for sure Aaltonen would carve some nhl time.

Can't forget Chris Mueller he was excellent. The line of Johnsson - Mueller - Smith was dominant in that playoff.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Holmberg continuing to develop into an everyday NHL Centre would be huge for us as an organization. I doubt he’s got the ceiling to be a 2C in the NHL but he’s shown the chops to be able to hold down a bottom 6 centre spot. Our C depth is pretty abysmal after Matthews and Tavares and John isn’t getting any younger.

 

[andora]

Holmberg continuing to develop into an everyday NHL Centre would be huge for us as an organization. I doubt he’s got the ceiling to be a 2C in the NHL but he’s shown the chops to be able to hold down a bottom 6 centre spot. Our C depth is pretty abysmal after Matthews and Tavares and John isn’t getting any younger.

I believe he plays himself into this years team.. 4th line center/wing to ease him in

 

[WTFMAN99]

Minten was a nice add last year as a centre, even if the ceiling isn't as high as we'd love...but we need to continue to try to build this position up in our organization.

 

[Roadhog]

Here is the protected list the Growlers submitted at the end of the season:

Newfoundland Growlers – Adam Holwell, James Melindy, Evan Neugold, Derian Plouffe, Todd Skirving, Jordan Escott, Barret Kirwin
(ECHL announces Protected Lists)

-Neugold didn't play pro hockey last year and I don't think he'll play again
-Plouffe signed in Norway instead
-Holwell signed in Scotland
-Skirving just signed his contract today, Growlers Re-Sign Todd Skirving
The first contract for the whole team

It was also the shortest protected list in the league by quite a bit, though the Growlers have essentially always been filled by the Marlies, so it does make some sense.
And to that end, the Leafs just got a new GM so he may be feeling things out with our Minor League GM, Ryan Hardy, who oversees the Marlies This also doesn't factor in either of the Growlers starters from last year, Dryden McKay and Luke Cavallin, who have yet to sign anywhere for this upcoming season. Cavallin is young enough, the organization should hold onto him in the minor leagues to see what happens, imo.




TL;DR: All of that is to say, the team is taking it real slow, but while the roster is not "set", they're definitely set on waiting to see what leftovers they'll get from the Leafs and Marlies.

McKay and Cavallin signed two-year contracts last summer

 

[Roadhog]

You can spread out his signing bonuses over his slide years so that when he does turn pro his cap hit is lower

However, you are committed to at least 3 years of pro, so you're really hoping he'll continue to develop over the next couple of years

Cap hit is total dollars divided by the length of the contract, it doesn't change.

Thank You - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Thank you for the amazing 9 years

www.capfriendly.com

Does Cowan wear a letter in London?

No, and hard to say if he gets one this year. Likely his 19 year.

 

[Roadhog]

He likely was too young, and not important enough last year. They usually don't make rookies captains. I doubt that they've named their captains/Assistants for next year, and they don't even have a roster listed. I think we'll need to wait until late September to hear on this one.

This so far, they have to sort out the OA situation. The two captains last year were OA's.

London Knights - Roster, News, Stats & more

London Knights - OHL - hockey team page with roster, stats, transactions at eliteprospects.com

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[DragoGrizzly]

As did I, thought for sure Aaltonen would carve some nhl time.

Can't forget Chris Mueller he was excellent. The line of Johnsson - Mueller - Smith was dominant in that playoff.

Some of the series it was Johnsson-Aaltonen-Grundstrom together and they were excellent too. But it’s interesting because that line played a lot like Keefe’s Leafs play possession wise, whereas the third line of Engvall-Gauthier-Greening played more like Florida’s chip and chase and pressure style. Was a very effective juxtaposition. Also remember hoping Gauthier would be an effective Leaf. But man, Johnsson was something else in that series though.

 

[uncleben]

McKay and Cavallin signed two-year contracts last summer

Oh yeah! Good catch

 

[uncleben]

Cap hit is total dollars divided by the length of the contract, it doesn't change.

Right! So if you extend the length of the contract to 4 or 5 years with an entry level slide and just pay off the signing bonuses, it lowers the AAV an cap hit

Check out Kressler

Thank You - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Thank you for the amazing 9 years

www.capfriendly.com

 

[WTFMAN99]

Grebyonkin has had an interesting pre-season over in the KHL.

Wondering if he joins the Marlies at the end of his KHL season or they give him another year of seasoning.

 

[Mitch nylander]

Grebyonkin has had an interesting pre-season over in the KHL.

Wondering if he joins the Marlies at the end of his KHL season or they give him another year of seasoning.

If he repeats the success he had last year with Magnitogorsk, I'd bring him over and take a look at his teammate Grigori Dronov.

I'd imagine he'll get to play a lot with former leafs prospect Nikita Korostelev this season.

 

[Duke16]

Any word on additional AHL signings coming? @SeaOfBlue

It looks like there is still room for some depth additions to be made through the AHL and ECHL. Hard to really predict the calibre of said players, but the overall numbers aren't quite there yet - it's close

Marlies:
Forwards (15)
Two of Robertson/Holmberg/McMann, Abruzzese, Blandisi, Clifford, Ellis, Gambrell, Hirvonen, Kressler, Ovchinnikov, Shaw, Slavin, Steeves, Tverberg, Voit

Defense (9)
Hellickson, Kokkonen, Lagesson, Lajoie, Miller, Niemela, Pietroniro, Rifai, Villeneuve

Goalies (3)
Hildeby, Jones, Petruzzelli

Growlers:
Forwards (8)
Berezowski, Caufield, Shea, Singleton, Skirving, Solow, Suthers, Weiss (probably Liwiski from Manitoba to make it 9)

Defense (2)
Dillingham, Tychonick (probably Barteaux from Manitoba to make it 3)

Goalies (2)
Cavallin, McKay

Definitely still a couple things to iron out on D and they could add another F or two somewhere in that depth chart

 

[Mitch nylander]

Any word on additional AHL signings coming? @SeaOfBlue

It looks like there is still room for some depth additions to be made through the AHL and ECHL. Hard to really predict the calibre of said players, but the overall numbers aren't quite there yet - it's close

Marlies:
Forwards (15)
Two of Robertson/Holmberg/McMann, Abruzzese, Blandisi, Clifford, Ellis, Gambrell, Hirvonen, Kressler, Ovchinnikov, Shaw, Slavin, Steeves, Tverberg, Voit

Defense (9)
Hellickson, Kokkonen, Lagesson, Lajoie, Miller, Niemela, Pietroniro, Rifai, Villeneuve

Goalies (3)
Hildeby, Jones, Petruzzelli

Growlers:
Forwards (8)
Berezowski, Caufield, Shea, Singleton, Skirving, Solow, Suthers, Weiss (probably Liwiski from Manitoba to make it 9)

Defense (2)
Dillingham, Tychonick (probably Barteaux from Manitoba to make it 3)

Goalies (2)
Cavallin, McKay

Definitely still a couple things to iron out on D and they could add another F or two somewhere in that depth chart

Don't forget:

Forward: Grant Cruikshank (AHL/ECHL) he is signed through next season

I could see them bringing in a few older ECHL/AHL vets on defence.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[Duke16]

Don't forget:

Forward: Grant Cruikshank (AHL/ECHL) he is signed through next season

I could see them bringing in a few older ECHL/AHL vets on defence.

Figured I missed someone. I'd have him playing C for the Growlers in all likelihood. We're pretty much good at F on that note, but I wouldn't mind landing one of the Aug 15 NCAA guys as well for a little boost (Farinacci/O'Brien/Mastrosimone/Wall/Wise)

I went through the list of unqualified prospects, and I think Peter DiLiberatore makes sense as one of the LHD additions - from Nova Scotia and saw AHL/ECHL time last season.

It would be interesting to see if they target pure ECHL vet D or if the additions are higher calibre and just push a couple of Hellickson/Pietroniro/Miller down instead.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

What was the point of Signing Cowan now before we've even had camp? Is it so he can play for the Marlies if the Knights get knocked out early at the end of the year?