Toronto Maple Leafs: The Rise of the New Age Player

The MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence is many things; official practice facility of the Toronto Maple Leafs, hub of GTA’s year-round minor hockey tournament circuit and, without a doubt, the coldest rink this side of Alaska.

The latter is not lost on Sheldon Keefe. On the contrary, the veteran Marlies’ coach has developed an immunity to the building’s sub-Arctic climate at this point, clocking enough hours inside to rival practically anyone.

This day, in particular, was the second of Marlies camp, and Keefe appeared busier than ever.

Having just led a host of meetings to whittle down the camp’s remaining hopefuls into a semblance of a roster, Keefe had, earlier, overseen a pair of separate on-ice drill sessions for the two groups as well, even nestling a full-fledged intra-squad scrimmage, officiated by actual referees, in between.

The events moved by at a breakneck speed. These were fast[paced drills, with quick huddles around Keefe’s whiteboard serving as the lone breaks in the action. This wasn’t by accident. Training camp is designed to tire you out.

Over 30 minutes had elapsed from the final whistle before Keefe eventually emerged from the bowels of the facility. There, he found a trio of reporters lingering.

“How long have you been waiting? They should build you guys a press box or something,”  the normally stoic Keefe joked, as he stepped before the outstretched phones.

“Welcome to the American League”

The wait hadn’t lacked in entertainment, however. As the 20 or so maybe-Marlies departed to hit the showers, Brady Ferguson declined to follow, opting instead to stay on for however the staff allowed him.

The 24-year-old Robert Morris University alum, who recently concluded his four-year tenure in the program as its all-time leading scorer, has done nothing but turn heads in the months since joining the Leafs organization in March. Debuting with the Marlies via an ATO, Ferguson briefly embarked upon a 5 game AHL taste in which he amassed 4 points – all assists – logged scarce top line minutes, and received a legitimate audition for the man advantage.

Ferguson’s initial success is indicative of a number of things; a testament to how effectively his game translated from one of the AHA’s lesser-known programs immediately into the pro ranks, while simultaneously harbouring manufactured qualities as well.

For onlookers, his hot start signalled a surprising development. For Keefe, it was by design. Over the years, the Marlies’ bench boss has demonstrated a clear penchant for challenging his young players directly from the onset, repeatedly subjecting them to increased responsibility head-on.

It’s a test. An “if you’re good enough to reach the pro ranks in the first place, show me you belong” type of thing.

Ferguson, by all accounts, passed.

Every Edge Counts

Hockey, in its modern form, has murdered the margin of error. It’s dead. Buried, extinct. A bygone remnant from a bygone era. Like the enforcer. Or Blockbuster Video.

Such progress is fantastic for the sport’s on-ice product, giving rise to a new generation of budding stars held responsible for ushering in the current golden era. It has also, in turn, made the process of actually cracking a roster more difficult than ever.

Separating either side of the roster bubble is a line growing thinner by the day, as teams ever so gradually prioritize skill over brawn and overlook “specialists” in favour of a human Swiss Army knife.

The more things a player can do at a high level, the better their odds are at carving out a role.

Ferguson is undoubtedly resigned to this new reality, and it’s his awareness that left him incapable of shaking something which continued to nag at him since the earlier scrimmage.

“After the game, I was thinking about a situation that happened in the scrimmage that I probably struggled with, so I just wanted to work on it for a little bit,” Ferguson told reporters once eventually stepping off the ice.

The culprit? An off-hand faceoff Ferguson lost cleanly.

“The guy was a righty trying to win it (the draw) on his backhand to the middle. I lost the faceoff. So I thought I should adjust to it.”

For roughly 20 minutes after the final session, Ferguson planted himself inside the rink’s far-right faceoff dot, overseen by Marlies’ assistant coach A.J. McLean, and took draw after draw, occasionally tweaking his posture and hand placement at McLean’s behest.

“Here, I’m just trying to make a name for myself,” he recounted.

“And whenever they see a spot, hopefully, I can fill it”

Along with a fellow legion of hopefuls, Ferguson symbolizes the recently emerged “new age player”, one mired in a desperate arms race towards the professional ranks while constantly searching for any means of improvement.

Signed to an AHL deal in mid-June, Ferguson is well aware of how his time with the Leafs organization could be cut short at a moment’s notice. Plateauing is not an option, and in fact, in the days following camp, the team opted to begin his 2018-19 campaign with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers rather than up with the Marlies, in spite of a consistently strong performance spread across the summer’s gamut of team-sanctioned showcases.

A player self-identifying their flaws so readily in an effort to elevate their ceiling is commendable to see, although no longer a rarity within the realm of development. Keefe, unsurprisingly, is not blind to this either.

“I think it goes both ways for sure,” explained Keefe, as to whether it’s the players who approach the Marlies development staff for tune-ups first or vice versa.

“Players at all levels today are more informed, more educated in their own games than ever before. Obviously, video being as prominent as it is now, today’s player is just more inquisitive and wanting more information and wanting to know what’s happening. So, there’s a lot more give and take that way for sure.” 

This self-awareness doesn’t rest solely at the developmental level. Mike Babcock is dialled in on the matter as well, having constantly made his desire for a lineup comprised almost entirely of centres widely known, singling out the position’s versatility as his primary reasoning.

And why shouldn’t he?

At the crux of it all, the Leafs need centres, and it’s much easier to fast-track your way to the big leagues once emerging as a capable option down the middle. If the price for doing so requires spending an extra half hour of a beautiful September day staring at a frozen faceoff dot, 99 out of 100 players would pay it in an instant.

Added Keefe; “A lot of the time, players are able to pick up on things that coaches may not see. Of course, it works the other way too. I think it’s important to have dialogue both ways to be able to accept what’s happening, or the thoughts and the feelings of the player.” 

Ferguson is not the first prospect to set forth along this new process, and he certainly won’t be the last. Although, as the sounds of his stick clattering on the ice filled the air long after his teammates had hung up theirs, you can be sure the people in charge took notice.

And for the new age player, nothing is more vital.

Thanks for reading!