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Maple Leafs Notes: Marincin, Corrado, Matthews

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According to a variety of NHL reporters including Chris Johnston, Kristen Shilton, and David Alter, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Martin Marincin for the next four-to-six weeks.

The big defenseman reportedly has a lower-body injury. It was previously reported as a potential back injury, after Marincin left Saturday night’s game versus the Bruins after falling awkwardly. Marincin has 5 points in 16 games so far this season, a much better pace than any previous season in his career.

This could be an opportunity for Frankie Corrado to see some playing time in the NHL. Corrado recently expressed disappointment with Mike Babcock’s handling of him in his two seasons with his hometown Maple Leafs, having played just 40 games out of a possible 111. He’s played just once this season. Corrado was a fifth-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks, but was claimed on waivers last October. The Leafs have carried him as an eighth defenseman for the majority of that time to avoid losing him on waivers.

[Related: Maple Leafs Depth Chart]

Meanwhile, Maple Leafs’ first-overall pick Auston Matthews faced his childhood team, the Arizona Coyotes, for the first time in his career. Matthews is a native of Scottsdale, Arizona and has skated with players like Shane Doan in summers past.

While Matthews scored his fourteenth goal of the season in his first game against the Coyotes, Toronto ultimately lost in the shootout at the hands of former Leaf Peter Holland. Holland was traded to the Coyotes one week ago after a tough start to the season with the Maple Leafs, where he only appeared in eight games.

Snapshots: Bruins, Maple Leafs, Oilers

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • Boston Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller is out tonight with the flu, the team announced. Colin Miller will replace him in the lineup.  The flu bug is common this time of year, with Miller joining notable NHLers Nick Foligno and Ryan McDonagh among those sidelined recently because of the flu. Teams take strict care when dealing with players with the flu because the virus’s high contagiousness could wreak havoc on a hockey team sharing close quarters. Meanwhile, coach Claude Julien said that Anton Blidh will draw into the lineup tonight, skating on the fourth line. Blidh, who was called up this morning from the Providence Bruins, has 1 assist in four games for Boston, but 6G and 4A in 21 games for Providence.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs forward—and 2015 1st overall draft pick—Auston Matthews plays his first game against his hometown Arizona Coyotes tonight. Matthews was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona after his family moved there from California when he was small. The American-born forward represents a new wave of American NHLers and is seen as a successful product of the NHL’s sunbelt expansion.
  • The Edmonton Oilers recalled AHL point leader Taylor Beck from the Bakersfield Condors today. They reassigned Anton Slepyshev to make room for Beck, and hope that his offense bolsters an already stacked forward unit. Beck has 9G and 21A in 19 games for the Condors, and many wondered why this move hadn’t come sooner. As for Slepyshev, the Russian forward has struggled with the big club, scoring only 2G and 2A in 15 games so far this season.

This Week In Hockey Blogging: A Dozen Articles To Read

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Here are a handful of articles from various hockey bloggers this week:

Winging It In Motown looks at the ongoing discussion of toughness in the NHL and how it’s unfairly used to criticize players.

Pension Plan Puppets  closely scout Auston Matthews.

Lighthouse Hockey likens their Islanders to the Walking Dead and take a deep dive into how the Islanders got to where they are.

The Committed Indian examines how the salary cap has created the parity intended, but in a ho-hum way.

Raw Charge analyzes Tampa Bay’s problem with developing first round draft picks.

Down Goes Brown lists the ten lies that every hockey fan is guilty of reciting.

Blueshirt Banter talked to Ryan McDonagh about the team and the season so far.

Bleedin Blue suggests that the Blues look into why they’re struggling so much on the road.

Copper and Blue discusses everything from Connor McDavid’s wingers to players in Bakersfield who should see time with the big club down the road.

Pensburgh compares Bryan Rust’s three-goal performance to a legendary Penguin’s five goal performance.

Hockey Wilderness  suggests two players for Chuck Fletcher to acquire.

Finally, Canucks Army offers advice to ownership: new management.

We’re always looking to add to the list. Tweet us some articles you like @prohockeyrumors or let us know through our comments section.

Rookie Report: Laine, Marner, Nylander, Werenski, Matthews

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The last three drafts have produced a number of all-world talents who are not only leading respective rookies, but the league as well. Here’s a look at the scoring leaders as the first quarter of the season nears completion.

Starting with Patrik Laine, the #2 overall pick in the 2016 draft, the Finnish forward has already recorded two hat tricks in his first pro season and has been drawing comparisons to his hero, Alex Ovechkin. Laine has been as advertised: a speedy sniper who always seems to be where the puck is. Not only does Laine lead all rookies with 12 goals, but he’s #1 in the league amongst goal scorers, tied with a guy by the name of Sidney Crosby.

Oct 2, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner (16) controls the puck against the Montreal Canadiens during a preseason hockey game at Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Canadiens 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Mitch Marner is #2 in scoring with 16 points and has been so dominant, that it has CBC wondering if he’s the “face” of the Maple Leafs. Marner has been nothing short of exceptional, notching seven goals and nine assists, buoyed by ten points in his last seven games. His commitment to a total game–not just scoring–even has bench boss Mike Babcock gushing. From CBC:

“You look at all the kids in our lineup — [defencemen Connor] Carrick and [Nikita] Zaitsev and [forwards Zach] Hyman and [Connor] Brown, and then the three guys that have elite skill — he not only has the skill but he competes every night,” said Babcock.

“He competes with and without the puck. That’s really positive. I’ve never coached a kid that good that young.”

William Nylander and Zach Werenski are tied with 14 points apiece. Nylander, the eighth overall pick in the 2014 NHL draft,  has given the Maple Leafs a huge boost in terms of production, joining teammates Marner and Auston Matthews in turning the Leafs’ fortunes around. For a kid who said back in March that he wanted to be “great,” he’s lived up to his expectations. Werenski is the only defenseman on the list and has been a major player in Columbus’ surge over the past few weeks. Tom Gulitti writes that Werenski is a major reason the Jackets are off to a 10-4-2 start and the 19-year-old has been quarterbacking a the power play, another sign that he’s a major player in Columbus’ improvement.

Matthews rounds out the top five with 13 points, and much has been written about the number one overall pick of the 2016 NHL draft. Matthews scored four goals in his NHL debut, but has been silent for the past 11 games. Yet it’s the maturation that Matthews and his fellow rookie teammates have shown that has caught the eye of his coaches and the league. Matthews commitment to a two way game, despite failing to score in nearly a dozen games, shows that he has bought into the Babcock system.

With three Leafs in the top five of scoring among rookies, happier days certainly seem to be on their way to Toronto.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. 

NHL, Stakeholders Discuss Possible Change To Draft Age

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Could the NHL change the draft age from 18 to 19?

TSN’s Bob McKenzie spoke about the possibility on Tuesday night’s edition of Insider Trading. Former third-overall-pick Pat LaFontaine is leading a group of stakeholders that includes the NHL, NHLPA, CHL, USHL, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and NCAA to discuss a “whole new development model.”

According to McKenzie, the model would go from age five to age 20, and would include changing the NHL Draft-eligible age to 19, with “some obvious exceptions for exceptional players.”

The system would likely feature an expanded version of the CHL’s Exceptional Player Status. Normally, players aren’t eligible to play in the WHL, OHL, or QMJHL (the CHL’s three leagues) until they’re 16. However, there is a process (outlined extensively by McKenzie here) where players deemed exceptional can begin to play Major Junior at age 15. Players and their families apply to the CHL and Hockey Canada, and the player is examined on and off the ice to determine if he truly is exceptional. So far, only six players have ever applied, with John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Sean Day, and 2018-eligible Joseph Veleno being successful candidates. The first thee on that list went first overall in their OHL and NHL draft years, while Day went fourth in the OHL draft was a third-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2016. While it’s still early in his career, McKenzie noted that “some were questioning whether he was as blatantly exceptional as Tavares, Ekblad or McDavid.”

Changing the NHL Draft age would drastically change the way the draft is conducted. Looking back over the past two drafts, top selections like McDavid, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, and Patrik Laine would likely have been able to still be drafted at age 18. All four of them have been successful in their rookie seasons, and were clearly NHL-ready at age 18/19. While McDavid was a CHL exceptional-status player, the other three played NCAA, Swiss National League, and Liiga in their draft years. The NHL and other stakeholders would need to find a way to coordinate with all leagues to determine which players are truly exceptional and deserve to be drafted at age 18.

While the above mentioned players would still have been drafted at 18, elite prospects like Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin, Jesse Puljujärvi, and Pierre-Luc Dubois may have been forced to wait an extra year, depending on the rules set out. As it stands now, several teams have issues with how the NHL-CHL agreement is laid out, as it forces 19-year-old draft+1 players to either play in the NHL or CHL when the AHL may be the best for their development. Strome is a current example: he’s posted 129 and 111 points in his last two years in the OHL and has nothing to gain from returning to junior, where he will dominate and potentially learn bad habits because of how dominant he is at that level. Strome has just one assist in six NHL games this year, and would be well-served by 40 games in the AHL to learn the pro game. That’s currently prevented by the NHL-CHL agreement. On one hand, it’s easy to see that CHL teams don’t want to lose their brightest stars before they absolutely have to, but at the same time it may not be in the player’s best interests to go back to junior. Changing the draft age to 19 could alleviate this issue, with drafted players only playing one more year of junior, at most, before turning pro.

LaFontaine and the stakeholders will meet again on Wednesday. On Insider Trading, McKenzie said they’ll “need to get some traction soon if it’s going to happen.”

The NHLPA would also need to agree to the change in collective bargaining when the current CBA expires in 2022 (both sides can opt out two years early). Convincing the Players Association that players will have to wait an extra year before making an NHL salary could be a tough argument, but it will be interesting to see how the discussion goes over the next little while.

Rookie Reports: Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine

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Despite a goal drought, Auston Matthews shouldn’t worry too much writes Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. The 19-year-old from Arizona scored an NHL record four goals in his first game, but is currently goalless in his last seven. But Johnston writes that Matthews knows droughts and poor play are part of the professional hockey experience. When he was a member of the ZSC Lions last season, Matthews had a similar streak but it didn’t faze him, going a similar number of contests where he wasn’t “playing well.” Johnston feels like Matthews is a recipient of a lack of puck luck than poor play. The Leaf center leads the team in shots during those seven games and had 32 in his past four. Johnston also adds that Matthews isn’t pouting on or off the ice about his struggles.

Meanwhile, Greg Wyshynski writes that Patrik Laine is playing Alex Ovechkin to Matthews’ Sidney Crosby in terms of being a competitive number two pick in comparison to the number one pick. Wyshynski writes that Laine is overtaking Matthews both from the eye test perspective and on the score sheet. Laine has already tallied 11 goals this season, and leads rookies in both goals and points (15). More impressive, Laine notched his second hat trick of the season, and becomes just the fourth player in NHL history to record two hat tricks before his 19th birthday.

Wyshynski figures that Laine, who idolizes Ovechkin, will lead rookies in either goals or points at the end of the season, making his case for the Calder Trophy. Further, Wyshynski writes:

As we said, the Calder still comes down to which rookies lead in points and goals at the end of the season. It’s hard to imagine, barring injury, Laine won’t lead in one of them. And just a month into the season, you can feel that familiar momentum from a decade ago: Flashy, sniping European winger stealing the headlines from the North American prodigy.

While there are still a great crop of rookies in the NHL this season, it will certainly be fascinating to continue watching Matthews and Laine not only this season, but hopefully throughout long and productive careers.

Atlantic Notes: Leafs Skate, Soshnikov, Blunden

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In a scene from a mid-90’s sports movie, the power went out at Maple Leafs practice today as the team was put through a hard practice by head coach Mike Babcock. The Leafs lost 7-0 to the Los Angeles Kings last night and, as Morgan Rielly put it (via Pierre LeBrun)“I think we all understood if we didnt skate last night we were going to skate today.” The young Leafs were on a three game winning streak before getting dismantled by the experienced Kings.

  • Also from practice today, Nikita Soshnikov was absent according to David Alter of NHL.com. With a groin injury, the coaching staff didn’t want to put him through the high-tempo practice. Soshnikov only just returned from injury a few games ago, but has contributed two points already and saw time with Auston Matthews during the loss.
  • Despite saying that Craig Anderson would be the starter whenever he was with the team, Mike Condon will start for the Sens tonight, according to head coach Guy Boucher. Condon recorded a shutout in his first game for the Sens last week.
  • Mike Blunden will be recalled from Binghamton to play tonight for the Senators, though no word has been given on who he’ll be replacing. The 29-year old has four points in nine AHL games thus far.
  • According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Jonathan Drouin is working out on his own, and still has no timetable to return to the Lightning. Drouin was injured a week ago on a hit from Calvin de Haan. Coach Jon Cooper says he’s “gradually coming along” in his recovery.

U20 Notes: McDavid, Laine, Matthews

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“I think he’s the best 19-year-old hockey player I’ve ever seen.”

Wayne Gretzky had some high praise for Connor McDavid on Tuesday night. In an appearance on the NHL Network (transcribed by Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot), Gretzky called McDavid the “catalyst” of the Oilers. Edmonton is off to a 9-4-1 start, tied with Chicago for tops in the Western Conference, and McDavid is a major part of that. He is tied for second in the NHL with 17 points.

Tuesday night marked the first time McDavid, the future face of the NHL, took on Sidney Crosby, the current face of the NHL. The Oilers captain posted three assists while Crosby was held pointless for the first time this season. McDavid won the battle, but his team lost the war on a Benoit Pouliot own-goal with less than two minutes remaining.

Despite his high praise for McDavid, Gretzky still believes Crosby is the best player in the NHL, until “somebody knocks him off that mantle.”

McDavid leads the way for several highly-skilled young players like the top two selections from last June’s draft: Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. Laine is leading the NHL with 11 goals in 14 games; he already has two hat-tricks in his young career, earning him the nickname “Hat-trick Laine”.

ESPN’s Joe McDonald relayed a story from the World Cup, where Laine represented the Finns. During a team practice, Laine ripped a shot past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Rask admitted he never even saw the puck go past him. Laine’s 11 goals in 14 games ties former Winnipeg Jets sniper Teemu Selanne’s record for goals in his first 14 NHL games. While Laine may not reach Selanne’s mark of 76 goals this season, he will certainly be among the NHL rookie leaders.

In Toronto, Matthews set an NHL record with a four goal outburst in his debut, but has slowed down slightly since then. He has six goals and 11 points in 13 games on a rebuilding Maple Leafs squad.

On the NHL Network, Gretzky complimented a few young players, including McDavid and Matthews for accepting “a responsibility of being that person for their city.”

Still in their prime, Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin are two of the best player in the NHL. With McDavid, Matthews, and Laine now in the picture, the future appears to be in very skilled hands.

Maple Leafs Notes: Bon Jovi, Rielly, Hunwick

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After the Maple Leafs’ dynamic young duo of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were caught singing along to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer” in the midst of the insane brawls all around them, and received a shout out on twitter from the man himself, they were asked today at practice whether they’d heard it from their teammates (via Mark Masters of TSN).

A lot of the guys telling us to focus on the game and stuff. We’re living our dream right now…probably the most important thing is to go out there and have fun.

While the teams were earning 130 PIM around them, Matthews and Marner were each earning more points and continue to dominate the conversation in Toronto. The teenagers have 11 and 10 points respectively through 12 games.

  • Morgan Rielly, the Maple Leafs de facto leader on the blueline is being asked to do even more this season, and he showed it on Saturday with the hit that set off all the fireworks. Now as the current and future number 1 in Toronto, head coach Mike Babcock expects him to take on these responsibilities (via Kristin Shilton of TSN): “We need him to be a real high-end guy in this league and I think him and (Nikita) Zaitsev have a chance to be a real good pair. Dion (Phaneuf) was for a long time and took a lot of heat for a lot of kids..now (Rielly)’s at a point in his career, he’s got to be that guy for us.”
  • Also from Masters, Matt Hunwick returned to practice today and is apparently “just around the corner” for his return to the lineup. Hunwick was placed on injured reserve a week ago with a lower-body injury. The 31-year old will have a good chance to get back into the lineup right away, as Martin Marincin has struggled in the early going.

Rookie Notes: Laine, Werenski, Marner

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After writing yesterday about the incredible group of teenagers that inhabit the NHL right now, they continued to show why they deserve to have ink spilled every night about them. Patrik Laine, playing in his 12th NHL game scored his seventh goal (while seemingly practicing his golf game) which is the fastest since it took Evgeni Malkin just six games in 2006. The Finnish sniper now has 9 points in those 12 games, and is showing why he was drafted so high.

The Jets are obviously pretty high on Laine, as he’s averaging over 19 minutes a night which leads all rookie forwards this season. As fans watch him play, they must be reminded of another Finnish scoring winger that made an impact as a rookie once upon a time – Teemu Selanne’s amazing rookie season started with 11 goals in his first 12 games, and ended with 76.

  • The idea that defensemen take longer to develop than forwards is being thrown out the window in Columbus, as Zach Werenski continues to dominate in his rookie season. The Blue Jackets are currently tearing the Montreal Canadiens apart (8-0 as this article is written), and Werenski is a big part of it. Though he has just one assist tonight, he’s also the quarterback of an effective powerplay that has gone 4/5 in the game. This 19-year old blueliner was drafted eighth overall in 2015 and is providing huge dividends already for the Blue Jackets; they’ll be 5-3-1 after tonight, with Werenski scoring (at least) nine points.
  • Though Mitch Marner wasn’t included in the original post, he probably should have been.  His start with the Maple Leafs has been overshadowed slightly by Auston Matthews, but the former fourth-overall pick has played extremely well in his own right. Two goals last night led the Maple Leafs to victory in Buffalo, a place they’ve had trouble winning in for years. Though Marner now has eight points in eleven contests, it’s his defensive play that is repeatedly mentioned by head coach Mike Babcock. The diminutive winger has nine blocked shots on the season, which leads all Toronto forwards.

 

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