Nobody would have ever thought that Denis Malgin was going to make the Toronto Maple Leafs roster over Nick Robertson, but here we are.
Denis Malgin, the 25-year-old winger from Switzerland is officially back as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and it’s hard to believe.
In February, 2020, the Leafs traded Mason Marchment for Malgin, straight up. It was somewhat of a nothing trade, as Marchment was becoming an “old prospect” for the Toronto Marlies, but at the same time, I never really understood it.
As someone who followed the Marlies closely, Marchment was seemingly getting better every season he played. His skating was a huge issue during his first season, but that drastically improved and he became an effective player for the team.
Not only that, but his size was something that the Leafs roster never really had. At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Marchment seemed like a player who could play third or fourth line minutes, provide some offense, but more importantly, play with an edge and physicality.
Taking a 5-foot-9, 180 pound winger who had done nothing special in the NHL felt like a weird move, instead of keeping a big winger who was close to becoming an NHLer.
Malgin Will Work Out This Time Around for the Toronto Maple Leafs
As we saw last year, Marchment blossomed into a great player with the Panthers, scoring 18 goals, while contributing 53 points and was someone teams hated to play against. Meanwhile, Malgin was back playing in the Swiss-A League for the past two years.
You can’t assign blame for missing on a late-blooming prospect who wasn’t considered a good enough skater to make the NHL, and it would be silly to be upset over a team swapping out one prospect for a younger one with more team control. Still, Marchment would have looked good on the Leafs.
As previously mentioned, Malgin is only 25-years-old. He has scored double-digit goals in the NHL before and if he plays with William Nylander and John Tavares, he may do it again.
Throughout the NHL preseason, Malgin has looked great. As the Wayne Gretzky of the Swiss-A League, Malgin really showed his offensive side and that he can help the Leafs top-six.
His last stint was terrible because he had zero points in eight games with the Leafs, but this time it feels different. Although, we all would have loved to see Nick Robertson join the team, Robertson is waiver-exempt, so that decision was easier for staff.
More likely than not, someone would have claimed Malgin if they kept Robertson up, so it was the right decision to try Malgin out for the first 10 games (or however many they choose) and see what happens.
He’s probably not going to be a point-per-game player like he was in Switzerland, but a 15-20 goal season with a few flashes of offensive brilliance is all Toronto needs from that second-line left-wing position at the moment. They don’t have the resources to spend on anyone making much over league minimum, so based on his preseason play, Malgin can (and probably will) be a staple in the Leafs top-six.
It’ll be weird to see him play so much, but if he can continue to make plays, like how he did on Saturday night against Detroit, he’ll be alright.
Either way, this team will still run through the core-four, with hopes that someone like Malgin can contribute, instead of being a deficient like Nick Ritchie was last season.