Top 3 Toronto Marlies Hoping to Crack Toronto Maple Leafs
There are some great players developing on the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies this season. A few are looking NHL ready and are just waiting for their opportunity to show what they can do in the NHL.
The Marlies have had a decent start to their season going 8-4-1-1. They currently sit third in the North Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.
The team has made some big changes after having a disappointing 2020-21 season going 16-17-0-2. There are lots of exciting new players of the team this season along with young guys getting more opportunity.
Before I get into some Marlies ready to make their NHL debut, here are some standouts on the Marlies with some NHL experience:
(All stats from theAHL.com)
Toronto Marlies Standouts
Kirill Semyonov earned a call up to the Toronto Maple Leafs after racking up 9 points in 9 games and displaying phenomenal defensive work. He’s played two games with the Maple Leafs so far this season.
Brett Seney has 8 goals and 13 points in 14 games and leads the Toronto Marlies in goals and points this season.
Josh Ho-Sang has 8 goals and 12 points in 13 games this season. He is tied for the team lead in goals.
Nick Robertson may be considered the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect and had two points after his first two games of the season before he suffered brutal a leg injury. He’s due back between late December and early January.
Now here are the top three Toronto Marlies hoping for their NHL debut based on their play this season:
Erik Källgren – Goaltender
The position the Toronto Marlies seemed to need the most help securing last season was in net. Most of their starts last season went to either Joseph Woll (7-7-0, .892 SV%, 3.54 GAA) or Andrew D’Agostini (6-6-0, .890 SV%, 3.17 GAA).
Erik Källgren seems to be just what the Marlies needed currently 4-2-0 with a .924 SV% and a 2.49 GAA. Right now, he’s ranked 8th in the AHL for save percentage.
Unfortunately, Källgren suffered a concussion during a game last week and is out indefinitely.
Källgren may be a long shot for the NHL since the Toronto Maple Leafs obviously have Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek as their top two, and Michael Hutchinson and Joseph Woll have also gotten into NHL games this season while Erik Källgren has held down the fort for the Marlies.
In order to get his chance in the NHL, Erik Källgren may have to dominate in the AHL for a couple seasons.
Outshining Michael Hutchinson so far in the AHL this season is a great start, but the Toronto Maple Leafs favour Joseph Woll and who knows what will happen when Ian Scott returns for injury.
Joseph Duszak – Defense
Defenseman Joseph Duszak has 12 points in 11 games which ranks him as the 5th highest scoring defenseman in the AHL. Last season, it took Duszak 25 games to reach 12 points.
Duszak had an amazing development camp and was tied for the scoring lead among defensemen at the prospects tournament before spending time with the Toronto Maple Leafs main camp. He has shown great improvement on both sides of the ice this season.
Joseph Duszak is known for his offensive ability. It seems easier for more defensive minded defenseman to crack a bottom pairing role in the NHL which may make it difficult for him to find a spot on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Duszak has made great strides in his defensive game, but Marlies like Kristians Rubins, Alex Biega and Carl Dahlström may be ahead of him in line for a call up due to their defensive strength and/or NHL experience.
Alex Steeves – Left Wing
Alex Steeves currently has six goals and nine points in nine games since returning from the injury he suffered during the first game of the prospects tournament this preseason.
Steeves may have been the most impressive player at development camp, but missed the Toronto Maple Leafs main camp and the start of the AHL season due to the injury.
Right now, Alex Steeves is on pace to be top 5 in AHL rookie scoring this season, and he’s sure to improve his pace throughout the year.
If he can keep up his point per game pace, he may get a call up to the Toronto Maple Leafs this season to fill in for injuries. If not, he’ll at least get a great opportunity at the Maple Leafs training camp next season.
Next. Maple Leafs Prospect Topi Niemela Ripping Up Liiga. dark
There are still lots of young stars looking to break out on the Toronto Marlies. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Pavel Gogolev and Mikhail Abramov are all still rookies in the league and could make a great impact this season.
It’s an exciting time for the Toronto Marlies, and it will be fun to see how many of these players will be Toronto Maple Leafs in the future.