What should the Maple Leafs do with their youth?
It has been some time since the Toronto Maple Leafs have had such a promising and large group of legitimate prospects.
Prior to - and for the most part, after - the lock-out, the Maple Leafs paid little attention to their youngsters; instead they went after over-the-hill veterans in order to fill roster spots. Since the arrival of General Manager (GM) Brian Burke the culture in Toronto has changed. The Leafs' GM has gone out and stockpiled prospects at every position, prompting the website Hockey’s Future to the name the Leafs sixth in their prospect rankings.
However, now that Toronto has such a large group of prospects the unfamiliar question of what to do with all these youngsters has arisen.
The Leafs are perhaps the deepest in two positions, forward and goal.
Upfront the Leafs will welcome rookie sensation Nazim Kadri, World Junior Championship stand-out Jerry D’Amigo, German Olympian Marcel Mueller, college star Christian Hanson, and last year’s acquisition Luca Caputi to camp. All five of these players are below 24 years of age.
Kadri is the lone candidate vying for a spot at the centre position, while the other four are all fighting for one spot on the left-wing.
Kadri cannot go back to junior next season, and will therefore need to play in either the National Hockey League or the American Hockey League.
Listed as the Leafs’ top prospect, there are many that expect Kadri to jump right into Toronto’s line-up next season. However, because Tyler Bozak and Mikhail Grabovski are set to take the top two centre spots, Kadri would be playing third-line minutes.
The benefit of Kadri joining the NHL would be the fact that he would be sheltered in his first season, and would not be pressured to perform at such a high level. Heading to the AHL would provide him with more ice time, as he will likely slot in as the Toronto Marlies' first line centre.
As for the other four battling for a single spot on the left wing, Luca Caputi has the best chance of filling the hole. Caputi played the position at the end of last season and performed fairly well.
However, Mueller comes over from the German league where he played with men, and has fully developed into his frame.
However, the Leafs are thinking about dealing Tomas Kaberle, and if he were to be traded it would likely be for a top-six left-winger, which would all but eliminate the youngsters from contention.
The acquisition of a new left-winger would see all four youngsters on the AHL roster.
In goal the Leafs are also deep, as Burke spent the off-season signing Jussi Rynnas and Ben Scrivens to the position. They will join James Reimer with the Marlies as the three battle for time. It would not be unexpected if one of them were to perform well enough to challenge Jonas Gustavsson for his NHL spot.
So what should the Leafs do with all these youngsters? Put them in the AHL? Over the past three or four seasons the Leafs have seriously lacked a quality AHL franchise.
With five high quality prospects, the Leafs could quickly turn around their AHL program. Many might wonder why it is important to maintain a top-flight AHL club. Well, the Leafs are not going to challenge for the Stanley Cup next year, and the youngsters are not going to garner a ton of ice time. Dropping them all to the AHL would give them a chance to experience a play-off run, as well give them plenty of playing time, in order to better learn the game.
The Leafs cannot be in a rush to bring these forwards up to the NHL. Let them develop, and then when they finally do make the jump, they will be all the more effective.
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