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The Toronto Marlies season came to a conclusion with a 6-3 loss to the Syracuse Crunch in Game 7 of the AHL North Division Final on Wednesday.
The series ended up being one where home ice advantage was the primary determining factor, with the Marlies winning three games at Ricoh Coliseum and the Crunch taking Games 1,2,5 and 7 at Onondaga War Memorial.
The Marlies led 3-1 in the middle frame on goals by Seth Griffith, Brendan Leipsic and Andreas Johnsson, but Syracuse rallied to tie the game before the end of the period on goals by Matt Taormina and Adam Erne.
Syracuse scored the game-winner eight seconds into the third on Matthew Peca’s breakaway goal and Toronto could not generate much offense against the Crunch, registering only five shots on goaltender Mike McKenna in the third.
The season was difficult for Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe, who lost William Nylander, Zach Hyman and Connor Brown to the NHL at the start of the season and endured the long absences of forwards Kasperi Kapanen, Brendan Leipsic and Frederik Gauthier.
The Marlies found themselves at the bottom of the AHL North in January with veterans like Brooks Laich and Milan Michalek playing out the final year of their contracts, but the club rallied with the return of Kapanen, Leipsic and Gauthier and the addition of veterans Seth Griffith, Cal O’Reilly, Sergey Kalinen, Steven Oleksy and Mike Sislo to get within one point of winning the division.
“This is a team that could’ve given up on itself halfway through (the season).” Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “We were in last place and the guys dug in and got us back to life and that got management to believe in us and make some changes, add some people and then we earned the right to be here.”
While the expectation of players making the jump to the NHL is not as great as last fall, promotions to the Leafs, new players coming in from the CHL, NCAA and Europe and expiring contracts not returning will give the Marlies a very different look next October.
Goaltender – First-year pro Kasimir Kaskisuo took over for the injured Garret Sparks in the first round against Albany and made the last nine post-season starts for Toronto.
The 23-year-old Finn’s numbers in the ECHL were not great, but he went 5-1 with a 1.84 GAA for Toronto when called up in March and impressed with his poise in the triple-overtime series clincher against Albany and Game 1 in Syracuse.
Garret Sparks and Antoine Bibeau had mixed results with the Marlies and both are restricted free agents this summer.
Sparks, 23, had the superior statistical year (21-9-0, 2.16 GAA and .922 save % in 31 starts), but continues to be dogged by injuries.
The Elmhurst, IL native was out with a lower body injury in Feb/March and suffered another injury against Albany, but will receive a qualifying offer because the Leafs have to make one goaltender available for the upcoming expansion draft.
Bibeau got a two-game NHL stint, but regressed in his third professional season and did not start another game after allowing seven goals in the third period against Binghamton on March 18.
With Kaskisuo signed through 2019, it is likely that Toronto will re-sign Sparks or add another AHL goaltender and not extend a qualifying offer to Bibeau, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Defense - Leafs management were keeping a watchful eye on the progress of 20-year-olds Travis Dermott and Andrew Nielsen, with defensive woes aplenty at the NHL level.
Dermott grew in confidence in the second half and Keefe depended on him heavily during the playoffs, as the Marlies most effective puck carrier, on the power play and even-strength.
Nielsen missed only two games all season and led Toronto blueliners with 39 points (14 goals and 25 assists). His booming shot is an effective weapon on the power play and his offensive instincts are good, but Nielsen displayed inconsistencies defensively that can only be remedied by more time in the AHL.
Second-year pro Rinat Valiev regressed at both ends of the ice in his sophomore season, scoring only 13 points after posting 23 as a rookie and finishing as a minus after a +32 last season, but has the size and skating ability to be a solid defenseman.
Veterans Justin Holl, Andrew Campbell and Steven Oleksy are free agents.
Holl is 25 and led the Marlies in playoff defensive scoring. Campbell has provided solid leadership in his two seasons with the Marlies and Oleksy (acquired as part of the Eric Fehr/Frank Corrado deal) has vast AHL and NHL experience, but their return could be contingent on a willingness to sign an AHL contract instead of a NHL deal and how many young defensemen the Leafs organization want to play next season.
A Swedish invasion may be hitting Ricoh Coliseum in the fall, as the Leafs signed 23-year-old Calle Rosen and 21-year-old Andreas Borgman out of the SHL this week.
It is thought that both will get a long look at training camp and have a chance to make the NHL, but they can be moved up and down from the Marlies based on being on their entry-level deals.
‘15 fourth rounder Jesper Lindgren was signed to an ATO in April, but has yet to sign an entry-level contract and could return to Sweden for another season. Another 2015 pick, Stephen Desrocher, finished his fifth and final OHL season in Kingston with 51 points, but has to be signed by Toronto by next month before they lose his rights.
Friday – What the Marlies forwards will look like
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