Mar 31, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Casey Bailey (37) shoots the puck during the pre game warm up against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
No.17 – Casey Bailey
By: Torrin Batchelor
Coming in at number 17 on our Top 20 Young Leafs rankings is former Penn State Right Winger Casey Bailey. Stylistically and physically very similar to Richard Panik, the two share many of the same strengths and weaknesses and will probably be in each other ways in terms of development and opportunities until one clearly overtakes the other.
The first player on our rankings to only have a single writer (me) not rank him inside their top 20, Casey Bailey is a behemoth on the ice. At 6ft3 and 195lbs, the center turned winger rose up as a primo goal scorer in the NCAA, but wasn’t able to show many offensive flashes in his limited opportunity (mostly in a bottom 6 role) with the Maple Leafs last season. I’ve done a pretty detailed breakdown of Casey Bailey before that you can read here, and after seeing more of his game at the pro level I still like what the Leafs have in him.
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A physically intimidating player, Bailey uses his size as a wrecking ball in the defensive zone to separate puck from carrier, but doesn’t really bring that level of physical play to the offensive zone which combined with his sub-par skating can leave him ineffective on the forecheck.
He only scored 1 point (his first NHL goal) in 6 games with the Leafs, but as he was played mostly in a defensive role showed that he could be relied upon to play solid defensively and back check hard – which bodes well for his chances in Mike Babcock’s system. He is a player that could probably benefit from some time spent with the Marlies, then being among the first to be called up once the Leafs start the foresail on their unrestricted free agents, but will most likely be battling for one of the 12th-14th forward roles with the Leafs out of training camp.
Bailey did have a knack of finding open ice and getting the puck off the ice when in tight to the net in the NCAA, but didn’t really have a chance to show those skills in his brief cup of coffee with the Maple Leafs. This season will be a better barometer of where he truly sits on the Leafs depth chart, and whether he is a player with top 6 scoring upside, or just the reliable bottom 6 NHLer he’s proven to be in his admittedly short sample size so far.
Next: Number 16