Reality for the Toronto Maple Leafs is that most of the players currently on their roster will not be part of the team in a few years. Other than defensemen Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and perhaps winger James van Riemsdyk , the future core group is playing in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies or in various places throughout the CHL.
2014 top pick William Nylander will likely be part of that group and with an assist in a 3-2 Toronto Marlies overtime loss in St. John’s, the 19-year-old moved into the top five of AHL scoring and is averaging over a point-per-game, while 2015 top pick Mitch Marner has resumed his high-scoring ways with London following his return to the OHL late in Leafs training camp.
Toronto's Viktor Loov sends Habs top prospect Nikta Scherbak into a different time zone: https://t.co/nGOCNv2EXv pic.twitter.com/Winh5KF5C8
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) November 13, 2015The Marlies trailed the Ice Caps 2-0 before tying the game in the third on goals by Casey Bailey and Marc Arcobello, but their five-game winning streak was ended as Christian Thomas scored the game-winner nearly three minutes into overtime.
Toronto plays St. Johns again on Saturday and Rochester on Wednesday before returning home to play the Amerks next Saturday.
Marner put on an offensive show at Budweiser Gardens on Friday, registering a season-high five points(2 goals, 3 assists) in a 10-4 Knights victory over Guelph. After a slow start, the fourth overall pick has 11 goals and 20 assists in 15 games(4th in OHL scoring).
The 18-year-old forward is taking part in the fourth game of the Canada-Russia series in Windsor, ON next Wednesday and appears to be a shoo-in for Team Canada for the upcoming World Junior Tournament in Helsinki next month.
Other prospect news, London’s JJ Piccinich(2014-4th round, 103rd overall) scored a pair of goals in the victory over Guelph, Erie defenseman Travis Dermott(2015-2nd round, 34th overall) had four assists in the Otters 6-4 win over Oshawa and Kitchener forward Jeremy Bracco(2015-2nd round, 61st overall) had three assists in the Rangers 6-2 win over Saginaw.
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After a successful 2-0-1 road trip, the Maple Leafs return to Air Canada Center to face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Toronto (4-8-4) is last in the Atlantic Division and tied with Edmonton for 29th in league standings, while Vancouver(7-5-5) is 3rd in the Pacific Division.
Noted Leaf killer Ryan Miller will be in goal for the Canucks and James Reimer gets his seventh straight start for Toronto. Miller has a 32-16-3-1 career record, 2.53 GAA and .918 save percentage vs. the Leafs, while Reimer in 3-1-2 in his last six starts.
Toronto will not make any lineup changes, which means that Martin Marincin, Frank Corrado and Brad Boyes are all healthy scratches. Jonathan Bernier may end Reimer’s string of starts on Sunday, as the Leafs play the second of back-to-back games against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Henrik Lundqvist made the start for New York in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon and backup Antti Raanta is get the start at MSG.
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