Toronto Maple Leafs: Half-Way Point Marlies Questions

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The half-way point of a team’s season is probably as good a time as any to take a step back and evaluate everything that has come before it. Doing so before then is likely too early, while reserving judgement until the three-quarter pole is almost certainly too late.

So, half-way it is, then.

With the AHL season now 50% in the books, fans have been made witness to the various highs and lows of the rollercoaster that has been the Toronto Marlies’ 2018-19 campaign. Obviously, such a rickety ride has generated more than a few questions in regards to the present and future of the Maple Leafs’ foremost branch of player development.

Today, I’ll be focusing on two in particular. What lies below is my best attempt to answer them.

Enjoy.

How High is the Marlies’ Ceiling?

34 games in, the Marlies find themselves sitting 5th in the AHL’s North Division, just 2 points back of the Utica Comets for a playoff spot with a whopping three games in hand.

Before we dive in here, let’s first just take a moment to appreciate how remarkable this is.

For a postseason birth to even still be in the cards right now, especially given the utter lack of goaltending and swath of injuries endured by the team to this point, is astounding, not to mention a testament to the degree of depth which litters the Marlies’ roster.

That depth has basically allowed the Marlies to more or less score their way out of their problems thus far. And the craziest thing about it is, they have the requisite firepower to actually get away with it. Holding the AHL’s 7th highest goal total as of the timing of writing today, the Marlies have never dipped outside the top-ten in that category at any point this season and, for the better part of October and November, even sat as high as first.

Case in point; this is a good team. And even good teams bear their fair share of weaknesses, which, in respect to the 2018-19 Marlies, has undoubtedly been goaltending.

Weaknesses aside though, the fact still remains that, were the playoffs to begin today, the Marlies would qualify nonetheless despite missing half of their top-six for the bulk of December and carrying a .875 team save percentage into the New Year.

That’s amazing. And we haven’t even touched on the schedule yet.

Back on Boxing Day, the Marlies were preparing to embark upon a stretch from December 26th-January 12th that would see them play 9 games in 18 days, 7 of which coming against opponents that hold a .652 average winning percentage. Facing down the barrel of the toughest portion of their schedule without the services of Timothy Liljegren, Andreas Borgman, Rasmus Sandin, and Trevor Moore, their fate appeared to be sealed.

Not so fast, though.

Once the Marlies finish out their 18 days of hell – which they have now gone 2-2 throughout, by the way – the average winning percentage of their opponents dips sharply to .497 from January 26th-February 18th just as the team expects to welcome back most of their broken blueline and see Michael Hutchinson return from his emergency stint as the Maple Leafs’ starter.

If the Marlies, in their current state, can simply survive until the end of January, the month or so to follow affords them as good an opportunity as any to not only get their roster back to full strength but pad their playoff cushion as well.

Who is the Team MVP?

When picking a team MVP for the Marlies, it’s all too tempting to confine the search solely onto the sexier prospects whose daily progress is eagerly observed by fans. And while a good number of youngsters have made a decent case for themselves to this point in the year, ignoring what Chris Mueller has accomplished from game 1 to 34 would be nothing short of a travesty.

If you listen to only one thing I have to say here, please let it be this:  it’s impossible to overstate just how important Mueller has been to the Marlies this season.

He’s their safety blanket – the consummate pro who Sheldon Keefe can flippantly throw over the boards at any point in the game and assume with full confidence that whatever job needs getting done will end in exactly that.

Mueller checks every box for what a team generally looks for from their highest paid veterans.

Offensive production? Mueller leads all Marlies in goals with 18, points with 36, and sits third in assists with 18.

Clutch scoring? The 5 game-winning goals from Mueller are tops on the Marlies and more than double that of the next highest total, 2, held by Adam Brooks.

Not putting his team in an unfavourable position? 14 minutes is the full extent of Mueller’s time in the penalty box this season, and in occasions when the roles are reversed, Mueller’s 8 power play goals have him, once again, sitting first on the Marlies in that category while his 10 power play assists put him in a tie for second.

*Extremely Billy Mays Voice* But wait, there’s more!

Mueller averages over 2.6 shots per game. He’s the only Marlie to have successfully maintained a point-per-game pace to this point in the season. And while some people may think of plus-minus as a misleading stat, and those people would be correct, Mueller has still somehow managed to stay in the green all year long, despite logging top line minutes in front of one of the worst goaltending tandems in the AHL.

If that’s not enough to sway your vote, I don’t know what to tell you.

From the moment the puck dropped to open the season, Mueller has proven time and time again to be worth every penny of the $650,000 he’s paid by the Leafs, and it’s high time fans are made aware of it.

All stats courtesy of TheAHL.com