The Toronto Maple Leafs have a newly minted Memorial Cup winner in the system, 2020 fourth-round pick William Villeneuve.
Lifting the Memorial Cup with the Saint John Sea Dogs should certainly serve to elevate his standing within the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.
After all, if nothing else it shows that he has an ability to cope in high-pressure all-or-nothing type match-ups.
That’s a skill that is learned rather than taught. Drafted just two years ago, there is still hope that Villeneuve can make an impact with the Leafs one day.
Does William Villeneuve Project to be a Toronto Maple Leafs Player?
The question of whether William Villeneuve has the potential to make the Toronto Maple Leafs roster one day is still out there. A typical Leafs selection, in that he is talented and has a high ceiling, but is a flawed player (not a great skater in this case) with no guarantee to make it.
What he does particularly well as a defenseman, at least in the course of the Memorial Cup run, is move the puck. Tallying 3 assists in 4 games isn’t half bad, but this is a player in his draft-plus-two year.
His 56 points in 64 regular season games seem like a very strong total, but given he would’ve been an older player in the league, it’s hard to gauge how much is due to his age versus his talent.
Closing out a career in junior hockey with the Cup is fantastic and should hopefully provide ample motivation to seek more success as a member of the Toronto Marlies, who he has played twice for so far.
A season in the AHL will really allow the Toronto Maple Leafs to evaluate what they have; the hope being that Villeneuve blossoms into something at the NHL level.
Perhaps the reason to get excited for Leafs fans is that here’s a player that proved himself in all situations and showed up in the Memorial Cup Final with two assists.
A big game player (at least at junior level) that kills penalties, plays powerplay and turns out on the right-side of defense; a rarity indeed.
Obviously, it’s hard to get too carried away. William Villeneuve was a fourth round pick for a reason. However, he certainly represents a chance to be found money for the Leafs, who eventually will luck out and find a star with one of these players.
With any luck a full summer of strength and conditioning puts him right where he needs to be ahead of training camp. Maybe he can surprise a few people once he gets there too!