The Toronto Maple Leafs Development System Continues to Impress

The Toronto Maple Leafs development system continues to impress.

Many teams that are in a contention window find themselves with empty cupboards, whether that be in regard to prospects or draft capital, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have managed to ice a contending roster while having success in their development system.

We can see this as many prospects overseas, in the CHL, and in US leagues seem to be having impressive seasons, but another area this can be seen is in their affiliate teams.

Let’s take a look.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Development System Continues to Impress

Let’s start with the Newfoundland Growlers. While the ECHL is a competitive league and one worth paying attention to, it’s important to note that it’s lower in skill than the  AHL which means the percentage of players who make the NHL from the league is lower than that of the AHL.

With that said, the Growlers have acted as another league to help prospects develop and often where undrafted players who sign in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization get their start.

Take, for example, Noel Hoefenmayer. Hoefenmayer entered the Leafs organization on an AHL contract but spent time with the Growlers before joining the Toronto Marlies.

Hoefenmayer became a key member of the Growlers landing 40 points in 46 games played, and 16 points in 19 playoff games. This year in his first full-time year with the Marlies he has continued to grow and impress with 34 points in 57 games and earning himself a spot at the AHL All-Star game. (eliteprospects)

Hoefenmayer isn’t the only one to play games in the Marlies after starting with the Growlers. Just this season, Centazzo, Solow, Miller, Pietroniro, and others have spent time with both the Growlers and the Marlies.

Keith Petruzzeli is another story of someone who started with the Growlers and has spent more time in the AHL this season, even finding himself on the Leafs roster briefly even though he didn’t get any playing time.

There is value to the Newfoundland Growlers being an affiliate team to the Leafs. They seem to have a mix of young players and more experienced players at the ECHL level, which is a great balance for helping develop players while still fielding a competitive roster.

They had an impressive season last year making it to the conference finals, but look to do more damage this year and this past weekend the Growlers made that possible by becoming the first team in the East to clinch a playoff spot while boasting a 41-18-2 record this season.

Toronto Marlies

Now onto the Marlies, who also are also having a successful year.

The Marlies have seen many players make it to the NHL and with the Leafs, with Engvall, Kapanen, Johnsson, Sandin, Liljegren, and Holl being just a few of the names.

Just this year, we’ve seen many call-ups from the Marlies, partly due to injuries but also partly due to the players’ strong performance.  There have been some standouts helping push the team forward, including Woll, Shaw, Hoefenmayer, McMann among others.

The Marlies increased results this season have surely helped ease the concern if the Toronto MapleLeafs were to lose a few depth players in their lineup as it seems like multiple prospects are knocking on the door.

These efforts from the Marlies players and staff have led to a turnaround from last season. Last season the Marlies struggled and found themselves outside of the playoff picture.

Looking now at this season, the Marlies already have more points than they did all of last season and also became the first team in the Eastern Conference of the AHL to clinch a playoff spot, boasting an almost identical 40-18-2 record to the Growlers.

It’s also worth noting that prospects Ovchinnikov and Niemela appear to be headed to Toronto to bolster the Marlies playoff lineup with Hirvonen likely following close behind once his team’s playoffs are complete.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Marlies, and Newfoundland Growlers all looking like contending teams, we are in for an exciting spring.