I think more highly of Leivo than most, but I do get that he might lack something to compete at the NHL level. Having said that, he's done everything asked of him. He developed properly in junior. He had a very good first year in the AHL, slipped in the 2nd, and had a great comeback year last year, both in the regular season and the playoffs. He's one of our few forward prospects that brings a little size, he's very strong on the boards and can be feisty when the rough stuff starts. IMO he has earned his NHL shot - he either succeeds or he fails but it says a lot to other prospects that he's given a fair shot.
One of the factors here is that we sometimes have an inflated opinion of the players we see very little of. For example, it's really hard to compare a 23 year old that we've seen lots of to an unknown 19 year old (Grundstrom). Similarly, Andreas Johnson is only one year younger than Leivo, has shown nothing in North America yet, but he gets ranked in this poll substantially higher than Leivo. Babcock loves a mix of fast skilled players and some bigger players with decent skills and good puck battling skills, so I'd really like Leivo to get a shot but if Babcock thinks Leivo doesn't have a good enough package of skills then I can live with that.