Toronto Maple Leafs: You Need to Watch the Toronto Marlies This Year

Thanks to the depth of the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, the Toronto Marlies are going to be awesome to watch this year.

If you want to watch NHL hockey for one-tenth of the price, I’d recommend heading to a Toronto Marlies game, as that team is filled with many soon-to-be NHLers.

During preseason and training camp, there were multiple battles on who was going to make the Leafs roster and now that decision is final, it’s crazy to see how stacked the Marlies roster is, especially at the forward position.

Speaking of which, one of the Leafs potentially most exciting players unfortunately didn’t make the big-club and will be forced to play in the farm to start the season. By all accounts, this player will be called up in a few weeks and finally get their opportunity at the NHL-level, but it’ll have to wait.

Obviously I’m speaking about Nick Robertson, who lit up training camp and is one of the most exciting prospects in all of hockey.

Toronto Marlies Line-Up is Stacked

Most fans either love or hate Nick Robertson and I can see both sides, however you can’t deny his potential or his AHL resume.

Robertson has been scoring at a point-per-game level and he’s only 20-years-old, which is unheard of. He’s dominating the second-best hockey league in the world, but still hasn’t became a full-time NHLer, which is weird.

Despite not making the big-club, he should continue to dominate the AHL and should be incredibly fun to watch at the AHL-level.

Robertson is clearly the biggest name on the roster, but there are plenty of other great players.

For example, Pontus Holmberg, Nick Abruzzese, Alex Steeves, Adam Gaudette Pavel Gogolev, Max Ellis, Ty Voit and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev are all exciting prospects who have the potential to make the NHL.

Also, depending on what happens with the veterans, you may also be able to watch Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford this year.

In my opinion, if there’s one player other than Robertson to watch this year, it’s Gogolev.

The 22-year-old from Russia is a 6-foot-1, 200 pound left-winger who is offensively-gifted. He scored 96 points in 63 games during his last year of junior hockey and has a ton of potential.

Gogolev hasn’t seen the same success in the AHL yet, as he only has nine goals in 44 career games, but he hasn’t been terrible. This should be a huge year for him to develop and it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s one of the higher scorers on the team.

As for the defensive group, Filip Kral and Mac Hollowell will be two prospects to watch out for.

Hollowell was one of the best offensive defensemen in the OHL, while Kral’s first full season in the AHL last year was a success. The 6-foot-2 left-shooting defenseman seems like he has potential to eventually crack the big-club, but time will obviously tell.

After five years in the NHL, Victor Mete will be the top-defenseman for the Marlies this year and he’ll be a very interesting player to watch. With so much NHL experience, Mete will have to prove he’s the best defenseman on the roster to get called up again or prove to the Leafs that he’s a valuable trade asset.

Erik Kallgren will more than likely be the starter for the Marlies this year, who we all remember from his 14 starts with the Toronto Maple Leafs last year. He was up-and-down with both the Leafs and the Marlies last season, but he’ll be another player to watch who fans are familiar with.

The Marlies will kick-off the season on October 14th, in which should be an exciting year. Obviously wins and losses don’t matter as much at the AHL level, but it’ll be a great development season for many Toronto Maple Leafs hopeful’s.