The Toronto Maple Leafs are not the only ones with depth issues.
Sheldon Keefe is no stranger to tough decisions. They come with the job.
Having the ability to make an otherwise unpopular move is a big reason as to why Keefe will enter the Toronto Marlies’ upcoming slate of games this weekend, and every weekend to follow, as the winningest coach in franchise history.
The man has no problem pulling the trigger. Only now, with how much personnel shuffling the Leafs’ organization underwent over the past week, he’ll likely be forced to do so again. And soon.
Which is why today’s news does not really make a ton of sense.
Stefan Leblanc, a left-shot defenceman, was called up by the Marlies from the Growlers this morning in a relatively unexpected move, given the team’s lack of immediate need on the blueline’s left side and, especially, how overstuffed their depth chart already appears in its current state.
Leblanc’s arrival only furthers that logjam.
When accounting for the recent acquisitions of Morgan Klimchuk and Michael Carcone before lumping them in alongside a returning Sam Gagner, who the Canucks loaned back to the Marlies on Tuesday, the Marlies now carry a roster consisting of 30 separate players.
That’s pretty excessive, even when contextualized within the AHL – a league whose teams aren’t subject to the roster limits of their NHL counterparts.
Leblanc gives the Marlies a total of 9 defencemen. But that number will assuredly lower once Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren are loaned to Team Sweden for the World Junior Championship in the coming weeks as Kyle Dubas confirmed this week that they would.
The roster’s largest glut, rather, can be found up top, where some 17 forwards will now be vying for only 12 different lineup spots on any given night.
Unlike the backend, the forward corps possesses a distinct lack of obvious candidates for who will be assumed to sit. Someone has to, obviously. And, with the talent at play here, that someone will probably not be too thrilled about it.
Keefe even alluded to something along those lines following the Marlies’ dismal 5-0 loss to Providence on Wednesday night, laying the groundwork for some outside-the-box changes to come.
“We’re really going to have to talk about a plan,” Keefe told reporters post game.
“We had a bit of a plan going into the game today. But at a time when you’re calling for great efforts from your team to change things around a little bit and you don’t get it, you’re probably going to reevaluate that plan.”
Those are some strong words. The kind of which raise two distinct and important questions.
Namely: what did the initial plan look like? And how will that plan take shape once the coaching staff reevaluates it?
Well, let’s speculate. Below are the lines the Marlies ran with last night versus Providence.
The two obvious absentees above are Gagner and Carcone; the latter of which took warm-ups with his new teammates despite being listed as a scratch. For the time being, at least, it’s probably safe to assume that the Marlies will give both players a regular foothold in the lineup.
In respect to Gagner’s case, his is a no-brainer.
Prior to leaving the Marlies two weeks ago as the team’s leading scorer, Gagner racked up 15 points in 15 games throughout his brief early-season American League stint, therein reminding everyone, save for only Canucks’ management it seems, that he is still an NHLer.
Gagner can break games open at the AHL level. The Marlies, just like any other team, could undoubtedly use someone capable of doing that.
As well, Carcone will almost certainly receive an extended look, albeit for different reasons.
The Leafs gave up an NHL asset in return for Carcone’s services only days ago and, while he ultimately may never crack the parent club’s roster, such a price dictates that their AHL affiliate should actually make use of the 22-year-old.
I mean, it’s not like Carcone is a scrub, either. His 17 points in 20 games this season do land him 4th in Marlies scoring and, given the right surroundings, could even see him breathe life into a floundering Marlies’ power play which currently ranks 19th league-wide.
That means two guys will need to come out. Which is exactly where things start to get murky.
Fringe forwards from Wednesday’s lineup – Griffen Molino, for example – are guaranteed depth casualties upon Gagner and Carcone inevitably suiting up. Then again, Molino only drew in last night thanks to a rare scratch from Pierre Engvall, one which hasn’t yet been confirmed to be injury-related or otherwise.
Engvall did not appear to be in any form of discomfort during the Marlies’ previous contest this past Sunday, so his night off could be simply for the purpose of maintenance. On the other hand, though, Keefe alluded to “some guys being banged up” in his postgame availability last night and Engvall could conceivably fit the bill.
For the sake of brevity, however, let’s just assume Engvall returns on Saturday.
That still leaves extra bodies.
Given the nature of Keefe’s recent quotes, in which he laid the blame for the Marlies’ struggles on the shoulders of those who were present during the team’s Calder Cup run, whoever ultimately takes a seat will not be an insignificant piece.
If I could happen a guess, my money is on Dmytro Timashov.
Timashov’s stat line certainly does not seem to paint the picture of struggle – with 15 points in 21 games. But it’s hard to chalk up the season’s initial stretch for the 22-year-old as a success.
Now in year three of his Marlies tenure, Timashov has seemingly never been capable of applying his game with the consistency it so sorely lacks. There’s still time to figure it all out, for sure, but the clock is ticks faster by the day.
As well, this season has actually seen Timashov lead the Marlies in penalty minutes with 26, with him committing yet another careless infraction on Wednesday upon which the Bruins ultimately capitalized, extending their lead to 4-0.
It’s doubtful that Keefe is thrilled about Timashov’s recent trend.
Not to mention, given how the Marlies just shipped out a fellow 2015 draft class member in Andrew Nielsen, stemming from similar discipline-centric reasons among a host of others, it’s not a stretch to say that Timashov may not be too far behind.
Perhaps an unexpected scratch provides the spark to ignite his development in what remains a make or break year. Or, perhaps, Timashov will be responsible for the next Leafs PR Tweet notification breaking news of a trade.
Only the coming weeks will reveal this situation’s true outcome. It won’t be an easy one. Then again, Keefe is no stranger to the type.
Thanks for reading!