Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospects at the quarter mark
Heading into the 2010-11 season, talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs centered around their young talent and whether or not their youngsters would be able to develop enough to help the team make the play-offs.
After the Leafs got off to a quick start, the talk shifted from the youngsters, but since then the team has come back down to earth, youth development has once again taken centre stage.
The Leafs are currently in fourth place in the Northeast Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference with eight wins and 19 points. Toronto has not been stellar this season, but they have managed to remain competitive and in doing so have called
up (and counted on) a number of youngsters. The squad has gotten help from Nazem Kadri, Keith Aulie, Luca Caputi, Korbinian Holzer and Christian Hanson, all of which started the year in the American Hockey League.
NHL
In the National Hockey League, the club’s prospects have seen limited success with most players joining the team for short stints before returning to the AHL. The lone exception seems to be Kadri, who did not live up to the hype in training camp, but after
a strong audition with the Toronto Marlies, in which the centre tallied 14 points in 14 games, the youngster was given a shot in the NHL.
Kadri has only played five games in the NHL this season, but has managed to contribute four points and is currently on the squad’s top line. If the London, Ontario native is able to keep up his strong play, he could remain with the big club straight through
to the end of the season.
AHL
In the AHL, the Marlies have not been seeing the production they thought they would from their young players. Besides Matt Lashoff, the Maple Leafs’ crop of prospects have been disappointing to start the 2010-11 season. Brayden Irwin leads the forwards with
only nine points in 20 games. Forwards expected to make an impact such as Hanson, Jerry D’Amigo, Marcel Mueller and Luca Caputi have all been underwhelming.
The lone bright spot for the Leafs in the AHL is in goal. The Marlies have received top-notch goaltending from both Jussi Rynnas and James Reimer, who is currently enjoying a stint in the NHL because of the injury to J-S Giguere.
Junior
The club’s three most promising junior prospects seem to be developing well and there is real hope they will be able to make the jump to the AHL next season. Perhaps the club’s most promising junior player is Greg McKegg, who plays for the Erie Otter of
the Ontario Hockey League. McKegg is having a very good 2010-11 campaign, netting 31 points in 25 games.
Meanwhile, defenceman Jesse Blacker is also having a quality year in the OHL, playing for the Owen Sound Attack. Blacker has picked up five goals and 17 points in only 21 games this season and looks to be ready for the AHL in 2011-12. The Leafs are also
likely satisfied with the development of centre Sondre Olden. The Norwegian managed seven points in 12 games with MODO J20 in the Swedish Super Elite League and was recently given a promotion to MODO’s senior squad.
Although the Leafs may be satisfied with their prospect development, few of the club's prospects look to be bona-fide NHL players. While the club has managed to garner significant depth, they are still without a highly-ranked prospect. As a result, Toronto’s
development system might be expected to move slowly, churning out average talent.
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