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Toronto Maple Leafs: With Marner Hurt It’s Time To Free Leivo

By Torrin Batchelor

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(0:30 mark) Mitch Marner trips and awkwardly hits the boards.

Toronto Maple Leafs Nation, be calm, this is not the end.

This is not the beginning of the 18-wheeler and its fateful voyage over yet another cliff for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yes, Mitch Marner tripped over Boone Jenner’s skates. Yes, he did awkwardly slide shoulder first into the boards halfway through the 2nd period of Thursday’s game against the Blue Jackets. Yes, the Leafs looked absolutely flat except when Josh Leivo was on the ice afterwards.

It’s believed we can expect an update on Marner’s injury at some point today, as they didn’t practice yesterday coming off a back-to-back series with the Islanders and Jackets, but take to the ice at the MasterCard Centre today.

Even if the absolute worst is revealed and he has a broken collar-bone, all is not lost. The Leafs have proven they have an abundance of scoring, and although he is the engine that could on a lot of nights driving his line, and sometimes the team to success, Marner is but one player.

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Now in saying that, we all certainly hope its minor and he needs at most a few maintenance days as Marner is one of the most entertaining players in the National Hockey League. Where there is an injury to one player, there is always opportunity for another; it is time to see what Josh Leivo can do.

It seems like forever ago that we were talking about Josh Leivo as one of Toronto’s best prospects. Buried behind the likes of Stuart Percy (Left unsigned), Matt Finn (Traded), Joe Colborne (Traded) and legitimate top prospects  Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly. Josh Leivo was first looked to as the eventual successor to Joffrey Lupul and his plucky, playmaking goal scorer with an edge throne.

Before the magic of Nylander, the speed of Marner and the unconventional hockey roots of Matthews, Leivo was once a key part of the future Leafs top six. Now, he could potentially be a replacement for James van Riemsdyk and his role in the Leafs potent offensive machine.

Drafted out of Sudbury of the OHL, in the 3rd round (86th overall) of the 2011 NHL entry draft. The Leafs went slightly off the board with this pick as Leivo was left off of NHL Central Scouting’s Top North American Skaters rankings entirely leading up to the draft.

After three full seasons in the OHL, Josh Leivo had earned himself a reputation as a natural goal scorer with 74 goals, 102 assists for 176 points in 193 games played with Sudbury and Kitchener. He’d also developed a penchant as a big game performer with 28 points spread over 22 playoff games in his OHL career.

After being yo-yo’d between the Leafs and Marlies for three seasons, Leivo had amalgamated a very respectable 51G/124Pts in 171 regular season games and 8G/27Pts in 35 playoff games with the Marlies.

He also managed to put up 5 goals in 12 games at the end of last season, again mostly in bottom 6 duty with minimal, if any, power play time. After being a healthy scratch, Leivo got into 3 games earlier this season but was injured and has only recently come back from a five game conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies.

HockeysFuture had this to say about Leivo:

"“Leivo is a naturally gifted athlete who can play a variety of roles which makes him a versatility player. His size allows him to work very well down low and he protects the puck effectively. A right handed shot who is comfortable playing on the left side, Leivo maintains a strong presence in front of the opposing team’s net, protects the puck well down low, and possesses a goal-scorers instincts”"

There have been flashes of that OHL scoring winger in his pro career, but with the Leafs Leivo always seems to be the afterthought who fills in on the fourth line.

That is, until Nikita Soshnikov missed the last two games due to injury, and Josh Leivo hasn’t looked back. In six games with the Leafs, Leivo has five points, including 2 beautiful assists against the Jackets after Marner went down and he was elevated onto Kadri’s line.

All five of those points came in the last two games, where Leivo has looked like a man on a mission every time he steps onto the ice. He was aggressive on the fore check, the first to back check, not afraid to dig for the puck in the corners and cycle it when needed, but most importantly, he had a nose for the net and a hunger for the puck to be in it.

Leivo, has not only looked like he is going to make it impossible for Babcock to scratch him in favour of Soshnikov when he returns.

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He has also very clearly made his case for an expanded role in Babcock’s offensive group going forward.

This is even more of a necessity that the Leafs not only owe Leivo, but themselves, now that Marner could potentially miss some time. The Maple Leafs owe it to themselves to “stretch” Leivo out and see what he might be able to offer in a more expanded role.

Whenever he’s been out in a place to score, he’s done so, at every level, this is no different. If he can take the ball and run with it for a bit, the Leafs could very well have an incredibly affordable replacement for JVR, if they decide to move him.

In a worst case scenario, Leivo accrues more games towards the 40/70 rule and becomes an available piece in the expansion draft, potentially saving the Leafs losing a vet like Komarov or Martin. At best? He becomes a valuable trade chip, or in-house replacement for JVR in the top six going forward.

In either case, Leivo has been chomping at the bit and at the very least deserves a chance to ride shotgun with Komarov and Kadri when the Leafs take on the Senators tomorrow night.

As always, feel free to continue the discussion below in the comments and on Twitter @EditorInLeaf and with me @TorrinBatchelor

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