Toronto Maple Leafs: The Good and Bad of Jeremy Bracco

Lately, there seems to be an abundance of talk surrounding Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Jeremy Bracco.

This isn’t surprising, considering we’re now into mid-August and the only news left to talk about is a Christian Dvorak extension. Gee whiz, that’s thrilling.

Regardless, these discussions seemingly paint Bracco into two corners; as either the second coming of Mitch Marner or an inconsistent scorer with an AHL ceiling. There’s no room in the middle ground. And honestly, I can see where each side is coming from.

Watching Bracco at the beginning of last season leans toward the former train of thought. Entering Leafs camp decidedly out of shape, Bracco struggled to find a spot in the lineup for roughly the entire first month, and even on the occasion he managed to draw in, was solely confined to a fourth line role. Not exactly a conducive situation to an offensive breakout.

On the other hand, watching Bracco’s progression down the stretch fuels the opposite.

The 21-year-old finished the season riding a streak of 14 points in 11 games, appearing more dominant and comfortable on the ice than ever before. In a featured role, no less.

Where is this leading?

Well, I was lucky enough to cover the entirety of Bracco’s rookie campaign last season. In watching him progress from game 1 to 74, it allowed me to form a relatively accurate picture of the various strengths and weaknesses of his game. These assessments were supported by conversations I had with his coaching staff, teammates, and Bracco himself.

So, if you put any stock into what I think – and I certainly don’t blame you if you don’t – here are a few things I believe Bracco brings to the table, along with a few he doesn’t.

Good: Playmaking

Bracco has downright spectacular playmaking ability, and that is what makes him special.

The kid’s game poses a chasm of room for improvement, and we’ll get to those momentarily. But if his particular ability continues to improve, it will end up being the skill responsible for propelling him to the NHL.

In transition is where Bracco’s ability truly thrives, heightened by his excellent on-ice vision. Bracco can identify open teammates in all three zones to a degree to which the majority of those around him simply cannot match. And, more often than not, he hits said teammates in stride.

Pictured above is a clip of Bracco taken from one of his earlier games, in which he hits Frederik Gauthier with a backdoor pass.

At first glance, it’s noticeably unimpressive, simply a routine feed to a teammate facing a wide-open cage. Look closer, however, and the little things stand out.

Bracco receives the puck near the goal line and immediately surveys his options. Noticing Gauthier streaking to the net, he recognizes two Laval defenders clogging the crease, effectively blocking his passing lane. So, rather than attempting a low percentage move to stuff the puck short side, or waiting and, in turn, eliminating his options, Bracco opts differently. He immediately fires a crisp and accurate pass to the wide-open Gauthier, who then scores the easiest goal of his career.

To create this, Bracco was faced with a barrage of choices. He needed to first survey the ice, then anticipate his opponents’ next moves, and finally make a definitive decision in tight space.

He did all that, within the half second the puck was on his stick.

Bad: Shooting

For all the prowess Bracco exudes as a passer, his shot is a clear area of need.

Of the 32 points Bracco put up as a rookie, 6 of them were goals. On a purely statistical level, his lack of tallies can be rooted in a reluctance to actually put the puck on net. Last time I checked, that’s pretty crucial to scoring goals.

Bracco took just 71 shots last season, the third fewest of any Marlies forward who either matched or exceeded his games played totals of 50.

To put that in perspective, Bracco was outshot by Martin Marincin, a defensive defenceman who generated 7 more shots in only two more games.

Funnily enough, Bracco’s shooting percentage evened out to 8.4%, higher than I first expected.

On the bright side, that’s certainly not a terrible metric, reaching league average, in fact. On a gloomier note, an on par shooting percentage suggests that Bracco isn’t in line for the correction-fueled offensive breakout many expect from him.

Essentially, Bracco put only 6 pucks past opposing goaltenders despite shooting at a borderline average rate. For argument’s sake, let’s go crazy and say he doubles his shot generation, roughly matching the 147 shots Ben Smith managed in 23 more games. That still leaves him with just 12 goals.

Again, perfectly respectable production, but not the dramatic jump he’s pencilled in for.

Which isn’t to say his shot is terrible. In fact, much like other aspects of Bracco’s game, it proceeded to get better as the season wore on. Many forget that the Marlies’ first goal of the playoffs came from the stick of Bracco, who went bar down from tight in the slot.

He’s progressing, which is a plus. But his aversion to goal scoring may end up holding him back.

Good: Two-Way Game

Defence is rarely an area of focus for offensive phenoms transitioning from the junior ranks to the professional game.

Simply put, point producers don’t need to worry about defence in junior, able to skate by purely on skill alone while facing competition comprised of their own age group. This generally dictates that the jump between levels becomes a rude awakening for them.

Now faced with an opposition of grown men, skill can only carry you so far. You need to diversify.

Bracco, in a surprising twist, has managed to somewhat avoid these hiccups in his first taste of AHL action, developing a two-way game far beyond expectation while doing so in his own way.

He’s not a physical player, not by any stretch, and therefore won’t smother opponents in coverage. Rather, Bracco uses other means, specifically his combination of acute on-ice positioning and spatial awareness to effectively eliminate gaps, force turnovers, and paint attackers into a corner off the rush.

He’s fast, albeit not in a straight away sense either. Bracco instead maximizes his lateral speed and edge work to change directions on a dime, in turn allowing him to keep pace with the play in the event of an offensive turnover and to adapt to changes in possession.

This is simply not seen in junior players of Bracco’s offensive calibre.

The former-Windsor Spitfire’s two-way proficiency gifts Sheldon Keefe a versatile presence in his lineup, perhaps expanding Bracco’s responsibilities in the years to come. After logging brief minutes on the penalty kill as a rookie, Bracco may find himself in line for an expanded shorthanded role in 2018-19, especially with a chunk of the Marlies’ penalty killers from last season departing in the summer.

The importance of this should not be understated.

Mike Babcock has repeatedly demonstrated an intent to have all his developing forwards establish penalty killing abilities in order to graduate to the NHL. Examples of this are abundant.

Kasperi Kapanen didn’t permanently break in until he became a constant shorthanded threat, the same applying for Andreas Johnsson and Travis Dermott. And while this is primarily seen in cases of graduation, it works the other way as well. If you recall, Andreas Borgman found himself headed to Ricoh in early-February, specifically with the instructions of adding the title of “penalty killer” to his limited resume.

If this trajectory continues, Bracco will have already cleared one crucial hurdle on his path to NHL employment with the Leafs organization. That, if nothing else, should be commended.

Outlook

Does Bracco have areas to work on? Absolutely. Aside from the ones I’ve identified, he additionally lacks conditioning, is an inconsistent scorer, and routinely gets knocked off the puck by professional competition far too easily.

With that said, it should not negate the strides he’s taken in such a short amount of time.

Bracco may not be the next Marner, not even close, but his ceiling sits far higher than that of an AHL lifer.

Thanks for reading!