SeaOfBlue
The Passion That Unites Us All
- Aug 1, 2013
- 35,591
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Speaking of this development program, let's see how it is going so far. It started in the 2014-2015 season I believe, so this would be it's 4th year.
2014-2015: Mickey Lang, Denver Manderson, Brett Findlay, Patrick Watling, Brady Vail, Brendan Mikkelson, Blake Kessel, Stefan Della Rovere, Carson McMillan, Byron Froese, Cal Heeter, Bryce Aneloski.
Most of these guys did not last more than a year and found themselves on the Solar Bears, however Brendan Mikkelson was a good add for a year and had a bit of upside, but he fulfilled his job and moved on. Watling and Vail were promising prospects with a bit of upside, but sadly did not turn into much. The two names that really stick out are Findlay and Froese. Froese has played almost a full year in the NHL and is really the poster child as of right now. Nobody has come close in the 4 years as he has, and has really blossomed from an ECHLer to a depth NHLer or even NHL 4C. He was huge for the Marlies and decent for the Leafs. Findlay also turned into a pretty good role player for the Marlies, and went from ECHLer to solid AHLer, as he is now in Stockton.
2015-2016: TJ Foster, Erik Bradford, Matt Rupert, Jack Rodewald, Chris Clapperton, Brenden Miller, Rob Madore, Rich Clune, Zach Bell, Justin Holl, Max Nicastro, Justin Johnson, Eric Faille, James Martin.
A group consisting of a lot more prospects than before. Most did not turn into more than decent or good ECHLers, but some of them got some AHL games. Holl and Clune were, and still are, key Marlies players and the cream of this crop for us. Miller looked really good in the two games he got last year, but now he's doing pretty well in the VHL in Russia, so good for him. Could be a KHLer by next year and who knows after that? Rodewald was good in the ECHL, but never had a shot on the Marlies. He did go to Ottawa's AHL team and impressed enough to earn an ELC, so kudos to him. He's even played some NHL games, and is one of Belleville's more formidable players to play against, so good on the Leafs for spotting the talent.
2016-2017: David Kolomatis, John Kurtz, Ty Stanton, Shane Conacher, Tony Cameranesi, Willie Corrin, Chase Witala, Mason Marchment, Nikolas Brouillard, Colin Smith, Marc-Andre Cliche, Cason Hohmann, Daniel Maggio, Jon Jutzi, Jeff Glass, William Wrenn, Rylan Schwartz, Eric Baier, Taylor Doherty, Tylor Spink.
Even more names here. Mason Marchment is most recent successful candidate. I was impressed with what Cameranesi did with the Marlies and I am surprised we did not bring him back, but he's doing well in the ECHL with another team now and I hope he can work his way up. I can see him making the NHL some day. The rest mostly did not turn out, or were just brought in for AHL depth and had no expectations.
2017-2018: J.J. Piccinich, Josh Winquist, Jean Dupuy, Max Novak, Michael Paliotta, Matias Cleland, Kristian Pospisil, Martins Dzierkals, Sam Jardine, Alex Gudbranson, MacKenzie Skapski, Jeff King.
This is the first year the Marlies really started to be selective with their forwards. All of them look good. Winquist, Dupuy and Novak were all already a little bit older, but established AHLers who are now in the ECHL and really the little bit of talent they've got down there. Piccinich, Pospisil and Dzierkals look good enough for the AHL honestly. Gudbranson and Paliotta have hardly played, but they are not terrible depth options. Paliotta actually has some NHL upside left or at least could be another Holl, while Gudbranson could be an AHL regular at some point. Not too bad either way. King, Cleland and Jardine have been crap in the ECHL. Jardine is doing a lot worse than expected, and I am sure they just wanted him for depth rather than a youth investment. Hasn't really worked out. King was young (96'), but he was only a 'meh' offensive defenseman in the OHL and was almost certainly destined for ECHL mediocrity at best. Turns out he was worse than that. Cleland was a good NCAAer, so it was worth seeing him in the ECHL, but he did not turn out well either... Not that you expect many to turn out.
I like where the Marlies have been trending. In the next few years, the Leafs could have the first true two-tiered pro development system, and the Solar Bears could operate similarly to AA in baseball. The next step I would like to see is if they can get some more guys like Piccinich and Dzierkals. Guys who are not quite worth an ELC, but still have a lot of talent, especially if we drafted them or otherwise had a good look at them. Walker and Desrocher would have been good guys to look at, and maybe Bobylev, Nolan Vesey, Pierre Engvall and Korostelev could be in the next round. The Leafs have drafted some raw talent, some which may require an extended look beyond our rights (Mattinen, Gordeev, etc.), and those would be ideal candidates for us to get on AHL deals (or guys like Marchment and Cleland, who looked good coming out of their respective leagues). Make the Solar Bears full of young talent with upside or strong AHL depth like Winquist, etc. rather than career ECHLers or low upside prospects.
2014-2015: Mickey Lang, Denver Manderson, Brett Findlay, Patrick Watling, Brady Vail, Brendan Mikkelson, Blake Kessel, Stefan Della Rovere, Carson McMillan, Byron Froese, Cal Heeter, Bryce Aneloski.
Most of these guys did not last more than a year and found themselves on the Solar Bears, however Brendan Mikkelson was a good add for a year and had a bit of upside, but he fulfilled his job and moved on. Watling and Vail were promising prospects with a bit of upside, but sadly did not turn into much. The two names that really stick out are Findlay and Froese. Froese has played almost a full year in the NHL and is really the poster child as of right now. Nobody has come close in the 4 years as he has, and has really blossomed from an ECHLer to a depth NHLer or even NHL 4C. He was huge for the Marlies and decent for the Leafs. Findlay also turned into a pretty good role player for the Marlies, and went from ECHLer to solid AHLer, as he is now in Stockton.
2015-2016: TJ Foster, Erik Bradford, Matt Rupert, Jack Rodewald, Chris Clapperton, Brenden Miller, Rob Madore, Rich Clune, Zach Bell, Justin Holl, Max Nicastro, Justin Johnson, Eric Faille, James Martin.
A group consisting of a lot more prospects than before. Most did not turn into more than decent or good ECHLers, but some of them got some AHL games. Holl and Clune were, and still are, key Marlies players and the cream of this crop for us. Miller looked really good in the two games he got last year, but now he's doing pretty well in the VHL in Russia, so good for him. Could be a KHLer by next year and who knows after that? Rodewald was good in the ECHL, but never had a shot on the Marlies. He did go to Ottawa's AHL team and impressed enough to earn an ELC, so kudos to him. He's even played some NHL games, and is one of Belleville's more formidable players to play against, so good on the Leafs for spotting the talent.
2016-2017: David Kolomatis, John Kurtz, Ty Stanton, Shane Conacher, Tony Cameranesi, Willie Corrin, Chase Witala, Mason Marchment, Nikolas Brouillard, Colin Smith, Marc-Andre Cliche, Cason Hohmann, Daniel Maggio, Jon Jutzi, Jeff Glass, William Wrenn, Rylan Schwartz, Eric Baier, Taylor Doherty, Tylor Spink.
Even more names here. Mason Marchment is most recent successful candidate. I was impressed with what Cameranesi did with the Marlies and I am surprised we did not bring him back, but he's doing well in the ECHL with another team now and I hope he can work his way up. I can see him making the NHL some day. The rest mostly did not turn out, or were just brought in for AHL depth and had no expectations.
2017-2018: J.J. Piccinich, Josh Winquist, Jean Dupuy, Max Novak, Michael Paliotta, Matias Cleland, Kristian Pospisil, Martins Dzierkals, Sam Jardine, Alex Gudbranson, MacKenzie Skapski, Jeff King.
This is the first year the Marlies really started to be selective with their forwards. All of them look good. Winquist, Dupuy and Novak were all already a little bit older, but established AHLers who are now in the ECHL and really the little bit of talent they've got down there. Piccinich, Pospisil and Dzierkals look good enough for the AHL honestly. Gudbranson and Paliotta have hardly played, but they are not terrible depth options. Paliotta actually has some NHL upside left or at least could be another Holl, while Gudbranson could be an AHL regular at some point. Not too bad either way. King, Cleland and Jardine have been crap in the ECHL. Jardine is doing a lot worse than expected, and I am sure they just wanted him for depth rather than a youth investment. Hasn't really worked out. King was young (96'), but he was only a 'meh' offensive defenseman in the OHL and was almost certainly destined for ECHL mediocrity at best. Turns out he was worse than that. Cleland was a good NCAAer, so it was worth seeing him in the ECHL, but he did not turn out well either... Not that you expect many to turn out.
I like where the Marlies have been trending. In the next few years, the Leafs could have the first true two-tiered pro development system, and the Solar Bears could operate similarly to AA in baseball. The next step I would like to see is if they can get some more guys like Piccinich and Dzierkals. Guys who are not quite worth an ELC, but still have a lot of talent, especially if we drafted them or otherwise had a good look at them. Walker and Desrocher would have been good guys to look at, and maybe Bobylev, Nolan Vesey, Pierre Engvall and Korostelev could be in the next round. The Leafs have drafted some raw talent, some which may require an extended look beyond our rights (Mattinen, Gordeev, etc.), and those would be ideal candidates for us to get on AHL deals (or guys like Marchment and Cleland, who looked good coming out of their respective leagues). Make the Solar Bears full of young talent with upside or strong AHL depth like Winquist, etc. rather than career ECHLers or low upside prospects.
