Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Training Camp Shocker
The Toronto Maple Leafs are nearing that point in training camp where some cuts are bound to happen.
Even Mike Babcock agrees, having stated his desire to whittle down the Leafs’ two split squads into something resembling the opening night lineup. So, now we play the waiting game.
Players enter camp as long shots all the time, only to put in a hard day’s work and end up shocking the world to make the team. We’ve seen it year after year, and this one is no different.
The EIL staff put our heads together this week to answer one question:
Which player do you think will shock everyone and make the opening night roster?
The answers may indeed surprise you.
Michael Mazzei
If there’s one fringe player that could potentially find himself on the Leafs roster to start the season, my best bet has to be Trevor Moore.
Like Mike, I am a big fan of his game and have been thoroughly impressed with his development over the past two years. He had a decent sophomore season with the Marlies (12 goals, 21, assists, and 33 points) but his playoff run was truly a sight to behold. In 20 games played, he recorded 6 goals, 11 assists and 17 points and proved to be one of the Marlies most trusted offensive weapons.
It’s worth noting that his point totals were good enough for 2nd on the Marlies and 4th in the entire AHL playoffs. Mike Babcock recently told reporters at training camp that he was really impressed by Moore when discussing the Marlies playoff run. If you get such high praise from the head coach of the Leafs, then chances are you have a pretty good shot of making the team.
While it may appear to be an uphill battle given he will have to win a spot over veterans like Josh Leivo and Tyler Ennis, Moore has a good chance out of all of the fringe players to make the team.
Josh Tessler
If I had to name a player in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization that will shock everyone and make the team, I’d go with Jeremy Bracco.
Bracco reminds me a lot of Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens. He’s undersized as he’s 5’9” and 181 lbs, but he still proves that he can be an outstanding power forward. The native of Freeport, New York had a solid rookie season with the Toronto Marlies last year. In 50 games played, he registered 6 goals and 26 assists.
He also played a few games in the Calder Cup playoffs with the AHL club. While he didn’t play every game and was a scratch, he shouldn’t be looked at as someone who doesn’t have the necessary skills to play every night.
The Marlies roster was loaded with talent and someone was going to have to sit out. Unfortunately, Bracco had to sit out.
In game two of the preseason against the Ottawa Senators, Bracco was impressive. Calle Rosen had set up Bracco with pass right to him and Bracco put the puck right past Mike McKenna for his first goal of the preseason.
If Bracco can continue his success this preseason, it’ll be hard for Mike Babcock to not keep him with the club.
D.J. Llewellyn
I think a player that can surprise and make the Leafs opening night roster is Calle Rosen.
Firstly, Rosen was excellent during the Calder Cup playoffs last season and a key player for the Marlies. He’s continued that tear in training camp so far with his speed and puck movement.
Secondly, although Dermott isn’t seriously hurt, being a bit banged up is a knock against him. That means Rosen gets more of a look. Mike Babcock might also feel inclined to play the older Rosen and have Dermott start the year in the AHL.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’s made an odd decision.
Babcock seems to be set on having a right side of Hainsey (yikes), Zaitsev and Ozhiganov. I don’t see him being keen on giving Carrick or Holl much of a chance no matter how much they deserve it.
With an open spot on the left side available while Dermott is on the mend, I see Rosen being the most likely to capitalize and surprise.
Alex Hobson
Out of all the fringe players, I think could make the team, I think Igor Ozhiganov has the best shot.
Head coach Mike Babcock has been speaking very highly of Ozzy, complimenting his ability to play a strong game while also having solid puck-moving skills to compliment a booming slap shot. Out of all the defensive options the Toronto Maple Leafs have, only four of them are (realistically) set in stone. Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Ron Hainsey, and Nikita Zaitsev. Travis Dermott is certainly a lock to make the team as well, which leaves a battle between Ozzy, Connor Carrick, Justin Holl to name a few.
And with these guys, I think Ozzy has the best shot.
The great thing about the Leafs this year is the fact that they have no more dead weight. Nobody holds back their teammates. There’s no Roman Polak on the back end. If you really wanted to, you could argue that Hainsey is dead weight but after spending all season playing alongside of Morgan Rielly, Rielly still managed to put up over 50 points.
So, the dead weight narrative doesn’t really apply here.
Regardless of who makes the team, the Leafs will be winning either way. On that note, Ozhiganov has the best shot simply because of his right-handedness paired with his good size and overall solid all-around game. It’s going to be one hell of an exciting season this year.
Even if the beloved buds don’t win it all, they have an incredibly talented roster and have potential to do some serious damage and provide a fun experience for their fans regardless of how they finish the season. And Ozhiganov will be right there along for the ride.
Hunter Eitel
I feel like we’ve been saying this cliché for years, but Josh Leivo will make the team out of camp and join the fourth line.
That might not sound like a surprise but when you realize Leivo has only played 55 games over the last 5 seasons, it is. Leivo can play in the NHL, he’s proven that at this point. Last year he played in only 16 games (The most in his NHL career) and scored 4 points, or about a 20 point pace in 82 games. For reference, Matt Martin had 21 points in 132 games for the Leafs on the fourth line while Komarov had 51 points in 156 games, so Leivo could produce similar numbers if he keeps the same pace.
More importantly, Leivo is a more versatile player than Martin or Komarov were. He’s younger (Leivo is shockingly only 25-years old) and has better possession (2.7% relative Corsi) statistics over his short career than Martin (-2.7% relative Corsi with the Leafs) and Komarov (-1.7% relative Corsi).
With Martin gone Mike Babcock should look to Leivo to fill his slot. He may have some competition from Tyler Ennis who the Leafs signed over the summer, but I think Leivo will take it as he knows this may be his last chance to crack the team.
His contract is up next summer and while he may re-sign as an RFA, he knows if he doesn’t make the team this year, he never will, and I feel like that will drive him to make the team and create a fourth line of Leivo-Lindholm-Brown.
James Tanner
I don’t think there will be any ‘shocking’ developments at training camp.
Initially, I had high hopes that Hainsey/Rielly would be broken up, or that Liljegren might make the team, but Mike Babcock seems too conservative, too stubborn and too tuck in his ways for anything substantially interesting to happen without an injury going down.
One player that is obviously going to get more of a look than some people thought is Tyler Ennis.
As I noted when I originally wrote about signing him, he’s fast and good at defence, which allows him to move up the lineup when people are injured (or holding out). At 25% of Matt Martin’s salary, the Leafs get a depth player capable of playing anywhere in the lineup.
He is the player I expect to surprise and not only make the team but play in almost all the games.
A second player that is going to surprise people by moving into a bigger role this year is Connor Carrick. He may be small, but he’s one of the best athletes in the NHL and he’s one of the Leafs best defensive and grittiest players.
He’s going to force his way into the lineup and I won’t be surprised if he’s playing top-four minutes because it seems very clear to me at this point that he is objectively better than either Ron Hainsey or Nikita Zaitsev.
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