Toronto Maple Leafs: More Marlies Moves Are Coming

The Toronto Maple Leafs want their AHL affiliate to win.

It’s honestly as simple as that.

The Toronto Marlies do not exist as an MLSE-funded holding cell for past-their-prime veterans and reclamation projects with a few prospects scattered in here or there. The Marlies, if nothing else, are a crucial cog in the organization’s central mechanism of player development – one rendered useless when the Marlies sit at the bottom of the AHL standings.

“When it comes to development, nothing is better than winning”.

Such is the key mantra of the Leafs’ brain trust, perfectly explains how the Marlies conduct business.

It explains why Kyle Dubas spent the past four years of his life meticulously building the AHL’s flagship brand in his own image, and to great success. It explains why ownership repeatedly gives the green light for the Marlies to throw around NHL money in order to court established AHL talent. And it certainly explains why the Marlies opt to employ an extensive coaching staff, unprecedented at their respective level, who specialize in all areas ranging from nutrition to sports science to analytics.

Case in point, the Marlies are run like an NHL team. This is done entirely to ensure that, from the moment they reach the professional ranks, Toronto’s prospects are aware of how an NHL team operates.

Vast regular season success followed by a deep playoff run is so heavily prioritized by the Marlies because, when you think about it, it’s what a future with the Leafs will assuredly entail for those who make the jump.

It makes sense, right? Why not indoctrinate the next generation right from the start and eliminate any learning curve?

Well, a deep playoff run does not appear to be in the Marlies’ cards this year. That is, if they manage to even qualify at all. This is a problem.

Sitting third last in the North Division through 24 games, Sheldon Keefe‘s team has surrendered the 4th most goals against in the AHL, sport the league’s 29th ranked penalty kill, and have been incapable thus far of stringing together more than 2 consecutive regulation wins. To make matters worse, prior to last night, all three of the Marlies’ goaltenders held a save percentage under .900.

Fast forward to this morning, now all two of them do. Something needed to be done.

The first domino to fall was also the most obvious.

Late last night, the Marlies dealt goaltender Jeff Glass to the San Diego Gulls in exchange for future considerations, ultimately bookending the journeyman’s second stint with the organization which lasted all of 10 games.

Signed two days before the season began, no one ever expected Glass to shoulder much of the load in net. Rather, he was brought to serve a single purpose; be a reliable backup behind Kasimir Kaskisuo after the latter was thrust into the starter’s role from sudden departures by both Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard.

Glass did not do that.

In 10 games, 5 of which were starts, the 33-year-old put forth a putrid .849 save percentage to go along with an underwhelming record of 3-4-1. Glass was promptly given the hook in two of his final three outings with the Marlies and proceeded not to dress for 8 of their last 10.

Once Eamon McAdam, who began the year in the ECHL, earned a call-up and then surpassed him on the team’s depth chart almost immediately, Glass’ fate appeared to be all but sealed.

Now, Glass was unquestionably the worst option of the Marlies’ goaltending trifecta. But he was far from the lone weak link. Kaskisuo, who the Marlies presumedly acquired Glass to back up, has managed to clear the lowest of possible bars and offer up only slightly better production, with a horrific .863 save percentage of his own that has now cast his future within the Leafs organization in serious doubt.

Shuttling Glass out of town succeeds only in clearing room on the roster. If Kaskisuo fails to turn his game around by the time I finish writing this sentence, Glass will not be the only netminder the Marlies rid themselves of this season.

With Kaskisuo between the pipes, the Marlies open each game at an immediate disadvantage. A lack of support from the most vital position withholds the defence from operating at the fullest extent of their capabilities – capabilities, mind you, predominantly reliant upon aggressive puck movement and taking risks – because they now live in fear of having even the slightest mistake of theirs end up in the back of the net.

That anxiety-induced hesitation then seeps over into the forwards, who now cannot fly the zone as urgently as their systems dictate. Everything becomes out of sync and begins to slowly fall apart.

And speaking of the forwards, we now reach the second Marlies trade of the night.

Adam Cracknell was, rather unexpectedly, sent to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenceman Steve Oleksy.

Serving as an example of the Marlies’ penchant for throwing NHL money at proven AHL stars, Cracknell signed his one-way deal with the Leafs on July 1st for $650,000 to supposedly fill the hole left by a departed Ben Smith.

It really should have worked, too. Both Cracknell and Smith happen to be the same age, play centre, and have earned eerily similar past production totals at both the NHL and AHL levels.

In fact, Cracknell had actually been performing quite well for the Marlies this season, albeit despite missing some time due to injury. His 10 points in 14 games, when extrapolated over a full 73-game season, put him on pace for a respectable 52 points which, funnily enough, would have been just 7 shy of Smith’s 59 from the year prior.

But Cracknell had recently become a casualty of the Marlies’ increased roster crunch, sitting as a healthy scratch for the entirety of the team’s recent weekend slate and not appearing set to re-join the lineup anytime soon.

Dealing him essentially accomplishes two things.

First, it allows the Marlies to acquire needed defensive depth in Oleksy for when Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin leave for the World Juniors. And, most important of all, it sends a message. In flippantly jettisoning an established veteran like Cracknell, this means that no one is safe, particularly those who find themselves perched on the roster’s bubble.

What this really functioned as was a warning shot.

The Marlies host the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday night for a crucial divisional matchup, which could effectively function as a litmus test for management. If the team fails again to respond to recent events, much like they did against Providence a week ago, you can guarantee that more names will follow Cracknell’s out the door, most likely starting with Dmytro Timashov. 

Laurence Gilman does not mess around. His job is to ensure that the Leafs house their prospects and, by extension, their future, within an environment conducive to success. So far, that has not been the case.

If results still refuse to come, and that remains to be seen, a noticeable shakeup could be coming.

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Thanks for reading!