The Leafs square off only twice this week, meaning there will be a lot of hard work at practice and quality time for Babcock to continue to teach his winning ways. Us Toronto fans have to be patient, this is going to take some time; and be somewhat of a frustrating time. In the end it should all be worth it when we gather another handful of picks and continue to stock up the prospect cupboards.
Without a doubt there is a lot of work to be done, but at least there are some high quality prospects in the system and surely more to come next summer. I’m sure that Toronto will be actively shopping for players through trade, whether that is young players to bring in or sending out players who are not fitting Babcock’s mould.
If there is one thing for sure that could work to Toronto’s advantage would be Babcock’s knowledge of the Detroit Red Wings prospects and depth chart.
The Wings have an excellent history of drafting quality players, and I’m not specifically talking just Zetterberg and Datsyuk. With Pavel starting the season injured for the Red Wings, and returning soon, the Wings will have to shuffle some roster players. Perhaps Toronto and Detroit would be good trading partners as the Wings have an abundance of quality forwards in the pipeline; ones that Babcock knows, and in some cases may really like. Tatar, Nyquist, Larkin and Pulkkinen, Jurco, Ferraro are all on Detroit’s roster and will likely be difficult to pry away from the organization; some more than others. But up comers such as Mantha, Bertuzzi, Athanasiou or on the defensive end Sproul, Ouellet or someone under the radar who Babcock was fond of could be a good target for the Maple Leafs to peg.
There are a lot of other teams in the league, I get that; but Babcock may have a hunch about some of these younger Red Wing players, and that alone to me is intriguing and possibly worth pursuing.
So far the Leafs have managed to squeak out a measly one point in three games after coming back from a 3-0 deficit versus the Senators on Saturday night. Magically, that’s better than both the Penguins and Blue Jackets records; which is who Toronto will be playing back to back on Friday and Saturday night.
We’re still in the early going, but both Bernier and Reimer have been struggling in net. Reimer has actually been the better of the two, sporting a save percent of .891% and Bernier has an atrocious .865%. Let the goalie battle commence and the arguments begin! To be honest, neither goalie does it for me and I hope at some point Mike, Lou, Brendan discuss bringing in a potential future goalie if they don’t feel one is in the system. The price of goaltenders isn’t exactly massive, so hopefully they are already thinking about this for the future. A quality goaltender is a must in the league these days, just look at Montreal…a mediocre offensive team with good defense and excellent goaltending.
Only three games in, Phaneuf leads Toronto in points with three assists, a +1 rating and 6 penalty minutes; one of the few Leafs off to a decent start in the early goings of the season. Hopefully for everyone’s sake Dion’s play improves drastically under Babcock. Lupul, JVR, Winnik, Bozak and Holland have scored goals after three games; Kadri leads the Leafs in shots with 14, but is an ugly -5 to start the season.
We’re still in the early goings, and hopefully Toronto can get a win on the board this week and shake the monkey off the back for Babcock. Eight years remaining on his deal, I’m sure the first win will feel good, even if the team does end up in the gutter by seasons end. It’s a process, and one that is going to take some time.
Marlies:
The Marlies have kicked off their season on the right foot, coming out with two wins in a row. Leivo leads the team with a goal and two assists, and both Andrew Campbell and Byrone Froese have each scored two goals. Sam Carrick and Willy Nylander each have a goal and an assist. Leipsic and Panik each have a couple of assists as well as a bunch that have one assist in the early going. Sparks and Bibeau have each got a game under the belt and a win most importantly. The Marlies squad should be good this season, and hopefully a lot of those ripening prospects for the Leafs are able to get not only some good experience but boost their confidence playing together. Something they can hopefully build off for the future, when the Leafs are a team that competes nightly under Babcock.
Jays:
The Blue Jays square off versus the Texas Rangers today in a must win game five. The winner of the division series will play in the Championship Series. Either Kansas City or Houston will be their opponent, pending who wins. Stroman gets the start for the Jays in what should be a very exciting game in Toronto. Go Jays!
Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your week.