ShaneFalco
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Toronto Maple Leafs Notebook: A Christmas Wish List | Maple Leafs Hotstove
Stocking Stuffer: A Toronto Marlie to stick on the left wing
After Tyler Ennis broke his ankle, Trevor Moore was the first in line to receive the call-up. There are two other legitimate left-wing candidates on the Toronto Marlies in Mason Marchment and Carl Grundstrom. With a full lineup, Connor Brown appears like he’ll be on the fourth line more often than not, while Par Lindholm and Frederik Gauthier have been both solid and offer some sort of platoon at the 4C spot.
Ennis is obviously out for a while, and the current line is not built to offer much defensively or play a checking role against good teams, which is what they’d be tasked with in those matchups more than anything else.
The team could use some help on the penalty kill up front and some help on the forecheck, and all three of those players potentially offer that. The best part of this would be that the Leafs don’t have to trade anything to do it.
Andreas Johnsson has played really well of late, all but claiming the final top-nine forward spot on the team. The other eight are essentially non-negotiable at this time. The fourth line has been much more volatile with Josh Leivo now gone, the 4C rotating, and the aforementioned Ennis now out for an extended period of time. It would be nice to settle in on a fourth line once and for all, and not trade another second round pick for a 4C for the third season in a row.
Family gift: Reasonable contracts for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner
Gift from Santa: A defenseman for the top four, preferably right-handed
With Ron Hainsey quickly aging and the Leafs’ middling penalty kill and possession numbers, they could use another minute-eating defenseman to take on shorthanded minutes, help them move the puck up ice, and take on some head-to-head matchups. Some potential options that won’t cost an arm and a leg include players like Radko Gudas and Nick Jensen, potentially Marc Methot or Alex Edler.
So far this season, Kasperi Kapanen has emerged and seen a lot of time alongside Auston Matthews as a result. Thought I’d run a quick comparison to how they are faring in comparison to Matthews and Nylander last season:
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Stocking Stuffer: A Toronto Marlie to stick on the left wing
After Tyler Ennis broke his ankle, Trevor Moore was the first in line to receive the call-up. There are two other legitimate left-wing candidates on the Toronto Marlies in Mason Marchment and Carl Grundstrom. With a full lineup, Connor Brown appears like he’ll be on the fourth line more often than not, while Par Lindholm and Frederik Gauthier have been both solid and offer some sort of platoon at the 4C spot.
Ennis is obviously out for a while, and the current line is not built to offer much defensively or play a checking role against good teams, which is what they’d be tasked with in those matchups more than anything else.
The team could use some help on the penalty kill up front and some help on the forecheck, and all three of those players potentially offer that. The best part of this would be that the Leafs don’t have to trade anything to do it.
Andreas Johnsson has played really well of late, all but claiming the final top-nine forward spot on the team. The other eight are essentially non-negotiable at this time. The fourth line has been much more volatile with Josh Leivo now gone, the 4C rotating, and the aforementioned Ennis now out for an extended period of time. It would be nice to settle in on a fourth line once and for all, and not trade another second round pick for a 4C for the third season in a row.
Family gift: Reasonable contracts for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner
Gift from Santa: A defenseman for the top four, preferably right-handed
With Ron Hainsey quickly aging and the Leafs’ middling penalty kill and possession numbers, they could use another minute-eating defenseman to take on shorthanded minutes, help them move the puck up ice, and take on some head-to-head matchups. Some potential options that won’t cost an arm and a leg include players like Radko Gudas and Nick Jensen, potentially Marc Methot or Alex Edler.
So far this season, Kasperi Kapanen has emerged and seen a lot of time alongside Auston Matthews as a result. Thought I’d run a quick comparison to how they are faring in comparison to Matthews and Nylander last season:
| With Matthews | Time on ice | CF% | SCF% | Oz start % | GF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kapanen | 250:28 | 52.1 | 51 | 70.19 | 67.74 |
| Nylander | 718:13 | 50.87 | 54.09 | 59.12 | 67.53 |
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