Tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes will be the tenth of the season. There was a time not long ago when Leafs were discussing sending Mitch Marner back to the OHL or to keep him up with the big club. Marner went on to set a franchise record for most assists in a season by a rookie with 42.
To date Marner has five assists in nine games played and has chipped in a single goal. He’s being wisely coached by Mike Babcock giving him some time to work through a rough patch to start the season. So far so good as Marner has shown more speed and looks as creative as ever with the puck. You think he was excited when his friend Matt Martin tipped in his first goal of the season the other day? Just wait until Marner assists on one of those upcoming Martin goals, because it’s bound to happen sooner than later.
The Leafs have been scoring goals, and a lot of them as we all know. Carolina on the other hand has had difficulty putting the puck in the back of the net. With only seven games played so far this season the Hurricanes sit 3-3-1 and have 18 goals.
It won’t be a walk in the park though as the Leafs will have to break through a solid Carolina defense that’s certainly the strong point of the Canes team. Toronto has been strong at home this season going 4-1 and is coming off a big win against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday evening. Carolina has lost two in a row and will be in tough tonight versus the high tempo offensive Maple Leafs roster.
It’s 50/50 at this point if the Hurricanes start Cam Ward or go with their new starter Scott Darling. Frederik Andersen is already the confirmed starter for Toronto and was excellent on Monday night stopping 36 of 38 shots. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Andersen get his second shutout of the season in tonight’s matchup.
So a victory tonight will put the Leafs at 8-2 which would be a phenomenal start to the season in my expectations as Toronto’s schedule wasn’t exactly an easy one to start the season.
I’m still wondering each game what the Leafs will end up doing with Bozak, Komarov and most importantly James van Riemsdyk.
With the Leafs being such a competitive team and looking only to be going up, it could be a great time for quality free agents to sign in Toronto at a fair market price to get a chance to take the Leafs all the way.
It’s no longer a hope, but a reality. Mike Babcock is ‘the coach’ that will lead the Leafs to the promise land, especially with Shanahan at the top and Lamoriello doing such a quality job. How many more moves does big Lou have up his sleeve? He won’t be around forever so the Leafs will have to stick with the plan, which changes each day it seems. Could it be none of the three are resigned and Toronto has other plans for their salary dollars?
Obviously these are future thoughts but the Leafs are rolling right now and as the season goes on we may get an idea of their plans moving forward. The truth is the Leafs have some quality prospects waiting to make the jump and other’s inching closer after every game they play.
The Leafs will have Friday night off after tonight’s game and will play against the Flyers on Saturday.
Have a great day,
Go Leafs Go!