What are your thoughts, Leafs Nation? I for one would have preferred McDavid to go to Arizona or Buffalo over the Oilers getting their fourth top pick in six years.
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The Toronto Marlies locked up the final playoff spot in the AHL’s Western Conference with a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday night, as Brendan Mikkelson scored at 3:29 of overtime to give the Leafs affiliate their fifth straight win.
William Nylander and Sam Carrick scored for Toronto, Byron Froese added two assists and Antoine Bibeau made 27 saves for the Marlies, who will likely face either Utica or Grand Rapids in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. The postseason berth is an achievement for head coach Gord Dineen and associate coach Derek King and assistant coach Ben Simon, who had to deal with an relatively inexperienced group, more roster upheaval than usual due to the significant exodus of players from the parent Maple Leafs and the use of youngsters such as Nylander, Connor Brown, Ryan Rupert and Brendan Leipsic in key roles throughout the season.
With Toronto’s future plans to give their prospects time to develop, experience at dealing with the pressures of the post season at the AHL level is invaluable.
Nylander has gone through a whirlwind in 2014-15, scoring at a point-per-game pace in 21 games with MODO of the SHL, a standout performance for Sweden in January at the IIHF World Junior and with a two-point performance on Friday, 29 points in 35 AHL games.
The 18-year-old Swede has the highest points-per-game ratio(0.83) of any rookie in the American Hockey League.
Brown went a long way to diminish the skeptics that his 2014 OHL scoring title was a creation of playing on the same team as Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome, as the 20-year-old Toronto native leads the Marlies and all AHL rookies with 60 points(20 goals and 40 assists) and a +24 plus/minus rating.
Rupert(a London Knights alum) started with the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears and did not join the Marlies until late November, but will finish the year fifth in goals(15) on the club, while Leipsic(acquired in the Franson/Santorelli deal in mid February) will finish in the top 5 of AHL rookie scoring and earned AHL Player of the Week honors this month.
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Saturday is the last day that Toronto Maple Leafs fans can utter the name Connor McDavid with any hope or possibility, as the NHL Draft Lottery will determine which of the 14 non-playoff teams the18-year-old phenom will play for.
Toronto has a 9.5% chance to move up to first overall, a 45% chance to select 4th and a 45.5% chance of moving down to fifth if a team lower than the Leafs wins.
To say the right four-digit combo coming up for the Leafs would be significant would be an understatement, as the club will begin a long and difficult teardown and rebuild this summer. The impact of winning the lottery was not lost on Team President Brendan Shanahan when he discussed the Leafs rebuilding process at his season-ending press conference.
“It would certainly speed things up.…a smiling Shanahan said on Monday.
While some believe that Toronto would alter plans to move veterans Phil Kessel, Dion Phaneuf, Joffrey Lupul and/or Tyler Bozak in the summer if they get McDavid, it is likely that their fate is already sealed by their body of work with the Leafs and will not be reversed by the promise of playing with a potential #1 center.
McDavid has remarkably unphased by the McEichel watch and teams like the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes positioning themselves to have the best chance to get the top pick.
“This is getting down to crunch time. It’s an exciting time.… McDavid said to the Toronto Sun’s Mike Zeisberger. “It’s been nice that I’ve been able to not to think about it too much. I took the stance that it’ll happen when it happens. There really wasn’t too much you could do to make it come any faster.…
While the 18-year-old says he will go to Arizona, Edmonton or Carolina or any other team without complaint, it is clear that McDavid would prefer to be drafted by either Buffalo or Toronto; the two closest franchises to his family’s home base in Newmarket.
“I love Buffalo. It’s a great place. I know it very well. Playing in Erie, I’ve been to Buffalo a whole bunch. It’s kind of the closest (NHL) place to Erie and there are a lot of Sabres fans living in the area.… McDavid said. “Playing for the Leafs would be a dream come true. I can’t help it -- I’ve cheered for them since I was a kid. I still remember going to my first game. I predicted in the car they would win 4-1. And they ended up beating the Rangers 4-1! I’ll never forget that.…
A year of jersey throwing, salute-gates, media clashes, half-hearted efforts, firings, chaos and concerns of losing their place in the hearts of Toronto sports fans to the Raptors or Blue Jays might have all been worth it for the Leafs if good fortune strikes, but even if the Leafs win, it will be a long road back to respectability.
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