Toronto Maple Leafs: Marner, Nielsen, Goaltending
Despite falling to the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Monday night, there were many positives to take from the loss from the Toronto Maple Leafs perspectives.
Mitch Marner
Marner was all over the ice last night for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He made rush after rush up the ice, including two rushes where he went 200 feet up the ice, one of which he passed off to a teammate, and the other he tried to fire home himself.
Neither of those rushes resulted in goals, but he still tallied 2 assists on the night, which is pretty good considering the Leafs only scored 3 goals.
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If you were worried about how Marner would translate to the NHL, he quieted those nagging doubts with his performance last night. Granted, he didn’t play against an Senators squad full of dominant NHLers, but Marner skated circles around much of Ottawa’s players, whether he had the puck on his stick or not.
Andrew Nielsen
Before Nielsen got a little banged up in the 2nd period he’d played extremely well, scoring his first goal as a Leaf. His play during the first period likely surprised many people, perhaps even those in management and on the bench.
He played relatively well in the WHL (including registering 70 points in 71 games last season), but many doubted his ability to make an impact in the NHL, given that he didn’t make much of an impact in his brief stint with the Marlies.
His skating ability, once observed that it needed improvement, has improved dramatically. In fact, if the Leafs didn’t have so few roster spots available on the blueline, he might’ve even seen a couple of games with them at the beginning of the season.
A full season with the Marlies should help his development even more. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him get a call-up if the blueline is felled by injury, especially if he maintains the level he’s at in the NHL and with the Marlies as well.
Notable mentions: Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner, Connor Brown
Keep An Eye On The Goaltending…
Neither Antoine Bibeau nor Kasimir Kaskisuo were stellar last night. Of course, when your goaltending tandem combines to give up six goals, it’s bound to be a rough night. But it was only the first game, and it was Kaskisuo’s first taste of the NHL.
With Frederik Andersen likely to be back from his injury by opening night and Jhonas Enroth returning from the World Cup, it appears that Bibeau and Kaskisuo will start the season as the Marlies goalies.
But will Andersen be 100% coming back from injury? Will he be ready in time to play at least one preseason game to get back into his rhythm? If he’s not, obviously Enroth will have to start. With as many questions as the Leafs do have concerning their roster, goaltending will have to be added to the mix as well.
NEXT PRESEASON GAME: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH VS. BUFFALO (in St. Catharines) @ 7PM EST
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