James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs breakout player of the 2019 season will be Rasmus Sandin.
With Jack and Quinn Hughes leading the charge for the Calder Trophy this season, I don’t see Sandin as having much chance to win the rookie of the year award, but I do see him establishing himself as an NHL regular and making Cody Ceci expendable.
Sandin’s training camp ascension to the NHL couldn’t have been timed any better because the Leafs are so capped out that they’re options for team improvement are nearly non-existent.
That was until Sandin pushed Cody Ceci down to #6 on the depth chart (#7 even, as Martin Marincin is probably better).
Sandin is intelligent, he can move the puck, and he can play both sides. It’s not impossible that we’ll see him force his way into the top-four eventually. And even if he doesn’t do that this year, it’s likely that he’ll play 82 games and be one of the NHL’s best 3rd pairing defensemen.
Sandin is going to make people forget that both Muzzin and Barrie are probably done in Toronto and by the end of this season, I predict he’ll have established himself as a core player for the Toronto Maple Leafs.