making room for the young guns

[gabeliscious]

jvr stamkos marner
tkachuck nylander lupul
komorov kadri leivo
winnik bozak froese

rielly hunwick
gardiner phaneuf
percy zaitsev
harrington

bernier
reimer

goat, brown, hyman and the rest spend another year perculating.

 

[Kubus]

At most 3 rookies will make the team next year, 1 D, and 2 forwards. Everything we have heard from the top is they are going to develop our players. And don't forget that the players have to beat out players for the positions they are supposed to play. Nylander needs to earn a top 6 forward job. Brown could make it as a 2nd/3rd liner. And I can't see Babcock having more than one rookie on D. I guess we could get a goalie too.

I know we have some good kids, but there is no way most of them are playing next year.

 

[SprDaVE]

I think we can easily have 5 rookies by the start of next season. A couple will start this season but we will have a super young team next year.

Hyman and Brown almost made the team out of camp. Leivo is rumoured to be a player that will be called up soon and has been great with the Marlies. Soshnikov is also playing exceptionally well, he just needs to learn English. Then you have the obvious Nylander. Marner could very well force the Leafs to keep him up too. Carrick could be that depth player. I doubt players like Leipsic, Kapanen (due to injuries) and Gauthier are on the radar quite yet but they could get hot at the right time.

On defence, you have Loov and Percy that are pretty much NHL ready to me. I doubt they will start with the Marlies next season.

 

[saltming]

Peter Holland has more goals and points in 5 fewer games give him that spot

I like Holland but Kadri is out playing him. Note scoring isn't the whole game. If it was why where so many people disgruntled with Kessel?

 

[Kubus]

I think we can easily have 5 rookies by the start of next season. A couple will start this season but we will have a super young team next year.

Hyman and Brown almost made the team out of camp. Leivo is rumoured to be a player that will be called up soon and has been great with the Marlies. Soshnikov is also playing exceptionally well, he just needs to learn English. Then you have the obvious Nylander. Marner could very well force the Leafs to keep him up too. Carrick could be that depth player. I doubt players like Leipsic, Kapanen (due to injuries) and Gauthier are on the radar quite yet but they could get hot at the right time.

On defence, you have Loov and Percy that are pretty much NHL ready to me. I doubt they will start with the Marlies next season.

And I agree with everything you say, but I'm just having a hard time picturing Lou and Babcock putting 5 rookies onto one of their teams. I would say Nylander has earned a spot on the Leafs now, but it look like they are keeping him down. I'm not just saying this because of his points but because the kid has looked solid on both ends of the ice(I like to catch a few Marlies games. I live close). If Nylander doesn't get a shot soon I can't see them running with 5 rookies next year.

 

[Jacquestrapless]

This is why prospects such as Leivo, Sosh, Panik should be up soon. Older guys who can take a role get acclimated to the environment. Then bring up younger guys next year that way, we don't have 5 rookies in next season

 

[Kubus]

This is why prospects such as Leivo, Sosh, Panik should be up soon. Older guys who can take a role get acclimated to the environment. Then bring up younger guys next year that way, we don't have 5 rookies in next season

Sure. Even with that I think Nylander and Brown make the team before Marner. And you can't forget about Kapanen either, he is just coming back from an injury, as a guy that will be gunning for an NHL spot next year.

The point is this is a team that can't just add a young star prospect and protect him with NHL vets. Any guy that makes this team needs to be able to contribute and play an NHL style of game, I can't see Babcock having it any other way. And right now not only would Marner have to beat out other NHL vets, he also has to be better than some of our prospects that have put in their time into development.

 

[thewave]

This is why prospects such as Leivo, Sosh, Panik should be up soon. Older guys who can take a role get acclimated to the environment. Then bring up younger guys next year that way, we don't have 5 rookies in next season

I could get behind that. The question is how many will we trade off this year and who?

 

[Stephen]

I'd like to see Leivo, Leipsic and some of the other older prospects to get some audition time this year. Nylander penciled in next year. Marner possibly next year, Brown down until next year cause of his setback. Kapanen years away.

 

[Budsfan]

A lot of making room, will come down to Cap, Contracts, Trades and Taking jobs, if the young guys are exceptional, room will be made for them but Babcock has said ties go to the veterans and I don't see a lot of young players being here next year, Nylander is making a case to be one of them but beyond him, it may be longer for others to make the Team, there will be a few but I can't predict who they will be.

 

[Kubus]

I'm sure someone one of, if not both, Leivo and Leipsic will get called up dependent on injuries. Maybe even Nylander might get some games. But they will have to earn their own keep if they are to stay up with the big club.

Right now the Leafs are 4 points out of a playoff spot, and I'm sure with how competitive Lou and Babcock are they are thinking trying to make the playoffs. I don't think they will make any bad trades, but depending on where we stand around TD we might not be trading our vets/making room for our rookies.

 

[zeke]

Nylander, Marner, and Leivo are pretty much locks next year, though Nylander and Leivo may not even be rookies at that point.

I imagine that the likes of Brown/Johnson/Soshnikov/Kapanen and Percy/Granberg/Loov/Dermott/ will get looks battling for bottom spots on the roster as well.


As for how Babcock feels about rookies, here's how many rookies played for the Wings:

14/15: 5
13/14: 11
12/13: 7
11/12: 6

Babcock isn't scared of playing rookies.

I imagine our lineup looks something like this next year:

VanRyk - Kadri - Marner
Komarov - Nylander - Lupul
Holland - Bozak - Mathias
Winnik - Froese - Leivo
(Brown/Johnson/Leipsic/Soshnikov/Kapanen/Carrick)

Gardiner - Rielly
Hunwick - Phaneuf
Harrington - Corrado
(Percy/Dermott/Marincin/Granberg/Loov/Valiev)

 

[SprDaVE]

I mean, after the deadline we will definitely have 3 or 4 young players make their way to the Leafs.

There's zero chance all of Matthias, PAP, Grabner, Boyes, Spaling, Polak stay, let alone maybe even players with term like Bernier, Lupul, Bozak, Phaneuf etc. Not all of them will be gone but a good majority of them will be. We will probably take back some players, so the number could variate.

I would fully expect older prospects to make their way to the Leafs like Leivo, Carrick, Hyman and probably Percy and/or Loov by the end of the year and with Nylander, Brown and probably Marner making it next year.

We will definitely be the youngest team in the league next year next to probably Arizona.

 

[TLeafsFan]

Can you feel it?

OPTIMISM FOR LEAFS FANS!

 

[Kubus]

As for how Babcock feels about rookies, here's how many rookies played for the Wings:

14/15: 5
13/14: 11
12/13: 7
11/12: 6

Babcock isn't scared of playing rookies.

It's not like all those rookies started/played the whole season. They were in and out of the lineup, and the were mostly called up because of Detroit injuries. Yes, a couple stuck with the team. Also in Detroit it was much easier to add one of those rookies into that vet lineup. It's a bit different compared to what we have here, especially since we want our rookies to produce points.

I don't think we have as many NHL ready rookies as Detroit did, nor are they as seasoned. Not to mention we don't have the vets to protect our rookies. I don't see us going the Edmonton way and hoping our rookies figure it out at the NHL level. I really don't think we will be adding large number of rookies to the full time roster this or next season. But sure, I can see a few getting a couple of games, maybe even getting a chance to finish the season.

 

[Apotheosis]

I think Percy is a near lock as is Leivo considering they're going to become waiver exempt at the end of this season (last time I checked, could be wrong though). Nylander is a near lock. I think Marner might be too since he has nothing else to learn from the CHL after this year. I'm hoping we draft Chychrun so we have a core of Rielly, Nylander, Marner and Chychrun all in the NHL next season. Might see Connor Brown in the NHL as well. Andreas Johnson will definitely start in the AHL for at least a season to acclimate himself to smaller ice and Kapanen will likely stay down there too.

 

[TLeafsFan]

Sure I'll take a shot...

JVR-Kadri-Brown
Komarov-Nylander-Marner
Leivo-Holland-Kapanen
Carrick-Gauthier-Froese

Rielly-Hunwick
Gardiner-Loov
Harrington-Percy
Granberg

Reimer
Sparks

Bolded players are bolded because they haven't played a single game in the NHL yet.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Bozak has more points than Crosby.

Is Bozak now a franchise level center?

Hmmm

Sorry but you don't get to do that, Sid has a history of being the worlds best player.

 

[BigWilly]

Nylander, Marner, and Leivo are pretty much locks next year, though Nylander and Leivo may not even be rookies at that point.

I imagine that the likes of Brown/Johnson/Soshnikov/Kapanen and Percy/Granberg/Loov/Dermott/ will get looks battling for bottom spots on the roster as well.


As for how Babcock feels about rookies, here's how many rookies played for the Wings:

14/15: 5
13/14: 11
12/13: 7
11/12: 6

Babcock isn't scared of playing rookies.

I imagine our lineup looks something like this next year:

VanRyk - Kadri - Marner
Komarov - Nylander - Lupul
Holland - Bozak - Mathias
Winnik - Froese - Leivo
(Brown/Johnson/Leipsic/Soshnikov/Kapanen/Carrick)

Gardiner - Rielly
Hunwick - Phaneuf
Harrington - Corrado
(Percy/Dermott/Marincin/Granberg/Loov/Valiev)

I'm thinking the same way, and this is very similar to my guess on the first page. I doubt Froese is still a rookie by next season though, and Marner will almost definitely be in a sheltered scoring role.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I like Holland but Kadri is out playing him. Note scoring isn't the whole game. If it was why where so many people disgruntled with Kessel?

Because those fans were and are uneducated any fan that believes he was the issue simply does not know what they are talking about in this instance

 

[The Podium]

Add zaitsev and potentially Jimmy Vesey (UFA) and the Leafs have a ton og decisions to make going into next season

 

[MJ65]

Is it possible to have this many rookies on next seasons team and we have to make room.

Kasperi Kapanen
Connor Brown
Andreas Johnson
William Nylander
Mitch Marner
Zach Hyman
Nikita Soshnikov
Josh Leivo
2016 1st pick?

I don't think if Leivo is going to stay with the Leafs for long

 

[Durrr]

Why do people keep put Kadri on the top line? If his 7 points in 19 games don't prove he is NOT a top line guy what will?

I'm like 95% sure you would be one of those people saying they would take less offense from Kadri if he managed to play a 200 ft game, believing it would never happen. Now he's playing like a real top 6, 2 way center and it's all about the offense I'm real sure that a sub ~2% shooting percentage is a great benchmark for what we can expect from Naz going forward.

Funny stuff. By the way, no one really thinks he's a top line center that you'd win a cup with.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Don't be disappointed if only a couple of rookies crack the starting lineup. History has shown that Babcock prefers to let the kids develop for quite some time at the AHL level.

 

[burpsalot]

Add zaitsev and potentially Jimmy Vesey (UFA) and the Leafs have a ton og decisions to make going into next season

Yup, we will still be looking at NCAA free agents, NHL UFAs & PDOs who may still outrank some of the prospects.

In addition if we trade a guy like Mathias, who has a gorgeous TDL contract, we may attempt to resign him, as he seems to have fit in to a solid role with Babcock.