Toronto Marlies Notebook: Soshnikov Cocktail

The Toronto Maple Leafs are far from the only Toronto-based hockey team currently on a roll.

In fact, the Toronto Marlies are rolling at a historic pace. In the midst of a 16 game stretch without a regulation loss, the team is sitting at a record of 37-11-0-1. Historic is not an understatement.

It’s an inevitability.

The AHL record for points percentage over the course of a regular season belongs to the Binghamton Rangers, who finished their 1992-93 campaign with a record of 57-13-10.

Alternatively, the most regular season wins in AHL history is 60(!), achieved by the 2009-10 Hershey Bears.

If the Marlies continue to play out the season’s remaining 29 games at their current pace, they’re guaranteed to eclipse not one, but both of those records.

In the most literal sense, we are watching history.

Kerby Rychel

Last week, I briefly touched on Kerby Rychel. Specifically, I noted how visibly upset he looked during his post-game interview.

Despite having just clobbered rival Laval by a score of 7-1, something was clearly angering him.

This struck me as odd. I mean, a blowout win seems highly unlikely to trigger feelings of frustration. Something was up.

As a former first-round pick, it would be less than surprising for Rychel to be upset with his career trajectory. Selected 19th overall in 2013, he hasn’t exactly achieved the same success when compared to his fellow draft class.

The player selected 20th overall, directly after Rychel, was none other than Anthony Mantha. To date, Mantha holds a career point total of 92, which he garnered over 128 NHL games.

Three spots later, the Washington Capitals selected forward Andre Burakovsky at 23rd overall. Both players have not only carved out defined NHL roles, but developed into offensive catalysts for their respective teams as well.

And Rychel, whose last taste of NHL action came in 2016, has been toiling in the AHL for the better part of three years. No wonder he’s upset.

When watching Rychel play, the forces withholding him from reaching the next level are glaring. Namely, his footspeed is simply not good enough for NHL success.

His skating style is one of the most peculiar I’ve ever seen. Instead of crouching to utilize his core strength, Rychel stands completely upright and pumps his arms like he’s trying to bail hay at light speed.

That he’s now 23 years old and hasn’t made any significant strides (pun intended) to fix this issue doesn’t do him any favours.

And yet, all is not lost.

Chiarelli Guy

One aspect that is rarely acknowledged as a factor influencing the actions of a general manager is ego.

The player topping ESPN’s NFL Mock Draft Board is Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen. As this illuminating article outlines, Allen doesn’t possess any of the attributes befitting of a top draft pick.

He doesn’t play at a Division I school, throws comical interceptions, and has wilted in his limited exposure to the national spotlight.

So, why has ESPN identified him as the draft’s presumed first overall pick? The answer is ego.

Allen possesses the best physical tools out of any QB in the draft. He’s taller, has a cannon for an arm, and just has the look of a franchise player. And every GM believes that they can develop those tools better than anyone else.

Essentially, GM’s love themselves a reclamation project. Squeezing value out of a previously dismissed asset is a badge of pride on their resume.

You know who seems like a prime reclamation project? Rychel. He’s a former first rounder, with size and grit to boot. If Rychel could somehow get faster, he could turn into the next Patrick Maroon.

Speaking of Maroon, who acquired him from Anaheim as a reclamation project? That would be Peter Chiarelli. And what does Edmonton desperately need? Scoring wingers. And what does Chiarelli deeply value in his players? Size and grit.

If you ask me, Rychel seems like the perfect example of a Chiarelli-type player.

On an unrelated note, Edmonton had scouts attending the Marlies game this past Sunday. A game that Rychel just so happened to score in. Connect the dots.

Chiarelli has previously performed similar moves, with the Griffin Reinhart trade as the leading example. That move ultimately failed to work out for that former-first rounder. And I’d bet that didn’t sit well with Chiarelli.

To me, Rychel seems like a prime candidate for a do-over.

Scout Central

The Nikita Soshnikov situation encapsulates the Toronto hockey market perfectly.

This is a fringe forward with less than a full season’s worth of NHL games under his belt, and yet the uncertainty surrounding his roster status is generating front-page headlines. I love it.

This attention is certainly not exclusive to Toronto. By my count, scouts from at least six NHL teams were in attendance for what could have potentially been Soshnikov’s final AHL game.

Teams doing their due diligence on the 24-year-old included Montreal, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Boston, Columbus, and New York. As luck would have it, they all got to witness Soshnikov prove his outgrowing of the AHL.

He opened the scoring, threw his body around without abandon, and ultimately concluded his five-game loan having produced five points.

Perhaps the most significant development, however, was that Soshnikov performed at such a high level despite Sunday’s game being his third in three days.

It’s widely known that health has ultimately been the sticking point when regarding outside interest in Soshnikov. So, for him to play such a gruelling stretch of games without skipping a beat should do wonders to ease those concerns.

As for Soshnikov’s future with the organization, that remains unclear. He was recalled from the Marlies on Monday, only to be immediately placed on IR.

Loophole Lou at it again.

Following Sunday’s game, I asked Soshnikov if he thought it was his last in the AHL. His answer?

“You never know.”

Yeah, no kidding.

Borgman Smash

In case you were questioning whether Andreas Borgman would be too good for the AHL, allow me to clarify.

He is absolutely too good for that league.

Playing his first game since suffering an extremely dirty headshot from NHL afterthought Mike Blunden, Borgman was dominant.

His trademark bone-rattling body checks were ever present, as he set the physical tone of the game early in the first period, to the delight of the crowd. Paired with former Swedish teammate Calle Rosen, he carried himself with the poise of a top pairing defenceman.

Upon his demotion, Mike Babcock made his demands of Borgman abundantly clear.

While briefly logging shorthanded minutes in the season’s early days, Borgman hadn’t been a member of either Toronto PK units for the majority of the season. That seems odd, as his skillset appears to suit that role.

With that said, this AHL stint doesn’t seem like a bad idea after all.

In no world is Roman Polak a better hockey player than Borgman. Although, he does kill penalties, a skill Babcock endows with an alarming amount of importance.

We’ve already seen how skilled Borgman is at moving the puck and pushing the play. But, if he can add penalty killing to an already impressive skill set, his projection could shift from that of a bottom-6 player, and into a potential top-4 role.

Considering that Borgman was on the ice during every single Marlies penalty kill, that process is already underway.

And that is incredibly exciting.