Toronto Maple Leafs: Rookie Tournament Part 2

The Toronto Maple Leafs took a multi goal lead into the third period, squandered it, and went on to lose in a shootout. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

It should sound familiar, because it’s exactly how the young Toronto Maple Leafs closed out their Rookie Tournament Sunday night, dropping a 4-3 contest to the Ottawa Senators. On the bright side, at least they’re in mid-season form.

Like Friday, I happened to attend this game and would love to share some of my thoughts about it with you.

Dermott Dominated

Travis Dermott will begin the season as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. To be a writer in today’s industry, throwing forth a succession of hot takes is required, and this is mine. Dermott showed an elevated level of hockey sense on Sunday that, unfortunately, his teammate Andrew Nielsen simply did not.

Dermott’s game is far from flashy. However, judging from the efforts of the Leafs defense corps last season, flashy is not what this team needs. What they do need is a solid, dependable defenceman who they can trust to complete a successful outlet pass and, in turn, be competent in his own zone. That is exactly what Travis Dermott brought against the Sens.

On an unrelated note, here is a verbatim excerpt from my game notes:

“Dermott tackles the Sens player that sucker punched him right in front of the net. Sens continue to be a garbage team and franchise. Except for Craig Anderson. He’s awesome.”

Like any half decent writer, I stand by my analysis.

Pleasant Surprises

As was the case on Friday, a number of Leafs prospects came forth as pleasant surprises. This time, it was Nikita Korostelev and Dmytro Timashov.

What first struck me with Timsashov was how small he is. Then, I read his player profile and saw that he and I are the same height. That made me sad. Anyways, Timashov really separated himself on Sunday, making a difference at both ends of the ice.

As any smaller player should, Timashov utilizes his lack of height to his advantage. Possessing a solid center of gravity, it allows him to contort his body mid-stride in order to slip past defenders in ways a taller player is unable to.

One specific instance in which this was demonstrated came mid-game, when Timashov crouched down, accelerated, and squeezed through a miniscule gap between the boards and the Sens defenceman bearing down on him, nearly setting up a goal. Overall, great game by Dmytro.

Korostelev

Nikita Korostelev served as one of the more intriguing Leafs prospects in the tournament. He passed through this year’s Entry Draft after re-entering , as the Leafs failed to sign him. Becoming a free agent, the Leafs then extended him an invitation to their rookie camp hoping to provide him with a second chance.

Well, Korostelev made quite the case for himself against the Sens. The little moves he made around the puck were what impressed me most about his game. Korostelev’s stick repeatedly found its way into the lane of a shot. His sound vision allowed him to continually find an open man. And his deceptively quick hands spurred him to create scoring chances out of seemingly dead plays.

As you’ve all repeatedly told me in the comment section, my opinion is not the one that counts. With the Leafs NHL roster packed to the brim, impressing the myriad of rival scouts in the building on Sunday served as the best outcome for either player. With the weekend now concluded, I believe they accomplished that.

Liljegren’s Redemption

Well, would you look at that. It seems like one bad game didn’t suddenly make Timothy Liljegren a bust after all. Who could have predicted that? (It was me, I predicted it).

I cannot overstate how improved Liljegren looked against Ottawa. Nearly everything he did poorly on Friday was done to great success on Sunday.

What truly impressed me about Liljegren was his positional awareness that allowed him to eliminate the opposing team’s space. For someone who seemed continually a step behind the play versus the Habs, he was now intercepting opposing rushes, while repeatedly serving as the first man back.

Curiously, Liljegren was thrust into a penalty killing role on multiple occasions. In one particular instance, he impressed by identifying his teammate’s blown coverage, and sacrificing his body in order to block a key shot. Small plays, made with heightened awareness, were things he simply did not do on Friday.

This is a special player. His skating stride is so smooth, I simply cannot believe it’s not butter. Using his absolutely lethal shot from the point, along with a release so quick it would make The Flash jealous, Liljegren’s ability to quarterback a power play may have reached an NHL level already.

North American Ice

With that said, Liljegren’s struggles with gap control look to exist as the culprit responsible for his shortcomings.

On the offensive end, Liljegren continually creeps down from the point just a tad too far, necessitating a delayed transition to the other end of the ice. On the defensive end, he again allows attackers just a few inches of excess space, a luxury he cannot provide to a proven NHL scorer.

These struggles are routine for someone making the transition to North American ice at 18 years old. It’s hard enough to develop as a defenceman in normal circumstances, but when the dimensions of your playing surface become altered, finding a rhythm becomes nearly impossible.

It is now essential to Liljegren’s NHL development that he does play in Sweden this season, something that seems more unlikely to happen with each passing day. Instead, developing his skills on North American ice would undoubtedly suit the young D-man best. Provided with a year learning spatial awareness on smaller ice, it is not out of the question for Liljegren to make the Leafs roster in 2018-19.

Final Thoughts

Approximately 99% of Toronto’s Rookie Tournament roster will never play for them at the NHL level. There is simply not enough room for all these players, the aforementioned Timashov and Korostolev serving as prime examples. While this may seem like a negative assertion, it’s far from it.

Despite the disappointing result, many Leafs prospects demonstrated that they possess a half-decent shot at an NHL future. Resulting from such excess, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now saddled with a plethora of young prospects they can wield as trade assets. All fans can do now is wait and see what the next move is of the organization is. Thus, continues the circle of NHL life in Toronto.

Next: Which Rookies Can Make the Leafs?

Let the games begin.

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