GDT: Leafs vs Red Wings Preseason- Friday Sep 27th- 7:30

[Superstar]

He's 19, he played tons of back to backs on the Marlies last year.
I see no reason he doesn't play tomorrow as a reward for tonight and for winning a spot and they'll nurse his minutes a bit and pump out a lot of minutes for Reilly and Muzz

He's shown Babcock tonight he belongs...but yeah, you might be right that he'll get limited minutes tomorrow night.

 

[ToMaLe]

You must've missed game 7 against Washington 3 years ago

Yup bout single handedly lost that game for us, he was so brutal. Hated Babcock ever since that game.

 

[A1LeafNation]

When he lost coverage due to being tired and on a penalty kill? Yeah, that kind of stuff happens to everyone. It's more notable with Marincin because how out of place he looks at times. He's an inexpensive but solid bottom pairing option that can PK and one that has shown progression. It's a reality in this cap world that you ice guys like him.

His coverage wasn't too bad. He lost the battle for stick positioning but he was all over Williams and in Marincin's defence...that was Mr. Game 7.

 

[Burnie97]

Beauty!

 

[Cotton]

nobody was "accidentally" right about him. There's a big body of work that speaks for itself

What he did in the past is irrelevant when camp starts, new team and a new opportunity. Believe it or not players trying out in camp are judged not by a stat sheet from previous years but the work they put in at camp. Ceci is a perfect example of that.

 

[IPS]

Yup bout single handedly lost that game for us, he was so brutal. Hated Babcock ever since that game.

Oh god don't remind me of that game.

f***ing Matt Hunwick played over 28 minutes and led our team in ice time

 

[CelticDruid]

Babcock did everything he could to stretch Sandin to his limits tonight and couldn't do it.

It's called responsibility and Sandin showed that he could handle it.

 

[member 300185]

Am I crazy or is Marincin not as much of a disaster as he was last year?

Ps. I know I am not crazy, my mom had me tested.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Beauty!

One of the best players? He was heads and shoulders above anyone else on the ice tonight.

It was a man against boys.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Okay, so I've been trying to not get too excited about Sandin too early, but I just can't anymore. This kid is an absolute beauty.

I'm officially on the hype train. All aboard!

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Am I crazy or is Marincin not as much of a disaster as he was last year?

Ps. I know I am not crazy, my mom had me tested.

He’s just being carried by a 28 year old vet

 

[OVO16]

Sandin is a stud. He needs a protector as a partner though.

He's gonna be going up against 4th line of other teams and I dont want them taking runs at the kid. Dude is only 19

 

[OVO16]

Personally hoping Gravel makes one more impression tomorrow night and the 3rd pairing to start opening night is

Gravel - Sandin

 

[The Masters]

Sandin has been amazing. Even Babs cant keep him out, he would look like a fool. Plus this is Dubas' call.

 

[The Masters]

Sandin will take Ceci's spot next season. I hope we can keep Barrie and Muzz too

 

[A1LeafNation]

Sandin will take Ceci's spot next season. I hope we can keep Barrie and Muzz too

Rielly Ceci
Sandin Barrie/Pietrangelo
Dermott Liljegren

 

[biotk]

Sandin looks like Lidstrom lite.

That was my immediate thought the first time I watched him play big minutes for the Marlies. I am not saying that he the next Lidstrom, of course. When you watch the game on TV you see Sandin's flashes of brilliance - and there are many. I went to a half dozen Marlies games last year (all in the playoffs), but the first of those I went to specifically to focus on two players - every second they were on the ice with and without the puck - I came away understanding the Sandin was on a level so far ahead of what people were believing, and so far ahead of Liljegren that it was ridiculous.

He's going to make mistakes - and that is a good thing because he learns from every single of them, and they allow him to see how far he can push things. He is going to be a top-4 quickly.

 

[SnizzMitch]

I’m starting to get worried about Liljegren.. Hasn’t looked in preseason.

 

[biotk]

My favourite thing about Sandin tonight. He killed the entire 2 minutes of the Leafs' only penalty. Now usually when someone is on for the whole 2 minutes of a PK it is because they were getting bombarded in their own zone and couldn't clear the puck. During that PK the Leafs had a shot for and none against. They didn't have a single corsi or fenwick against. They didn't look like they were short handed.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Sandin was sublime tonight. It’s not even a discussion as to who will reach the NHL first between him and Lily. As he gains even more confidence after playing 9 games in the NHL with sheltered minutes, he’ll be ready for top 4 duty. This is not much of a surprise to those who watched him play last year.

Also impressed by Pétan, Gaudet, and Timashov.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Am I crazy or is Marincin not as much of a disaster as he was last year?

Ps. I know I am not crazy, my mom had me tested.

He works well with Sandin. They have skills that seem to mesh well together. He’s always been pretty good without the puck.

 

[biotk]

I’m starting to get worried about Liljegren.. Hasn’t looked in preseason.

I have been saying unpopular things about Liljegren for a while now, so I might as well continue. My guess is Liljegren gets traded this season. He's not improving much - at a time when he should be improving a lot. It's not just that D drafted a year later then him are blowing past him. D drafted a couple rounds after him, like Fleury, have surpassed him. There remains a vocal fan club that will argue up and down that is great defensively, but he is slightly above average - for the AHL, and Sandin was easily better defensively last season. Part of the reason that people will claim he was great defensively is the higher percentage of defensive zone faceoffs that Liljegren had, but the reality is there are lot of icings when Liljegren is on the ice from missed stretch passes. His offense has vanished. People complain that he hasn't been given a shot but here is the reality:

In his AHL rookie season they dumped Nielsen off the PP and gifted that time to Liljegren. They also started him on the Marlies with Dermott - a hell of a partner. In his second season they gifted him 1st pairing responsibilities at the start of the season despite Keefe saying later that he was harming the team. He was properly slotted this preseason at around 12th on the D depth chart. He got 4 preseason games this year - all the third pairing - when there were others that the Leafs should have considered giving a game (like Hollowell and Duszak).

Sandin was not gifted anything. He simply out-performed expectations from the start. Last years training camp, with the Marlies, at the WJC, the pre-camp skates this year, this years' camp. He forced the team and other Leafs' players to take notice.

At 16 Liljegren was my favourite prospect ever. I still love the kid and hope he ends up having a great career. He deserves a shot somewhere else because this development system isn't working for him (he should have been sent to the OHL during his D+1). His biggest asset is his stretch pass - which is admittedly phenomenal - but the Leafs appear to be (thankfully) moving away from over-reliance on stretch passes. And Hollowell and Duszak deserve to get their shot on the right side for the Marlies.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I have been saying unpopular things about Liljegren for a while now, so I might as well continue. My guess is Liljegren gets traded this season. He's not improving much - at a time when he should be improving a lot. It's not just that D drafted a year later then him are blowing past him. D drafted a couple rounds after him, like Fleury, have surpassed him. There remains a vocal fan club that will argue up and down that is great defensively, but he is slightly above average - for the AHL, and Sandin was easily better defensively last season. Part of the reason that people will claim he was great defensively is the higher percentage of defensive zone faceoffs that Liljegren had, but the reality is there are lot of icings when Liljegren is on the ice from missed stretch passes. His offense has vanished. People complain that he hasn't been given a shot but here is the reality:

In his AHL rookie season they dumped Nielsen off the PP and gifted that time to Liljegren. They also started him on the Marlies with Dermott - a hell of a partner. In his second season they gifted him 1st pairing responsibilities at the start of the season despite Keefe saying later that he was harming the team. He was properly slotted this preseason at around 12th on the D depth chart. He got 4 preseason games this year - all the third pairing - when there were others that the Leafs should have considered giving a game (like Hollowell and Duszak).

Sandin was not gifted anything. He simply out-performed expectations from the start. Last years training camp, with the Marlies, at the WJC, the pre-camp skates this year, this years' camp. He forced the team and other Leafs' players to take notice.

At 16 Liljegren was my favourite prospect ever. I still love the kid and hope he ends up having a great career. He deserves a shot somewhere else because this development system isn't working for him (he should have been sent to the OHL during his D+1). His biggest asset is his stretch pass - which is admittedly phenomenal - but the Leafs appear to be (thankfully) moving away from over-reliance on stretch passes. And Hollowell and Duszak deserve to get their shot on the right side for the Marlies.

unfortunately, you may be right. I hate to base things on a handful of preseason games where he didn't get a good look, but this was a camp for him to claim a spot with so much opportunity. The best guy ended up being Marincin, so I feel like it should've been easy for Lilly to make a case for himself but he wasn't even close. I thought Liljegren took a step in the playoffs but if he did, he may have lost it. I know he's still very young but if he doesn't really take a step for the Marlies now, it will start to affect his confidence and possibly the organization's confidence in him. I'm not ready to give up on him yet or anything, but his stagnation has been pretty disappointing. Getting hurt certainly didn't help, but I still expected him to be further along by now

 

[7even]

Sandin can do a bit of everything it seems. I don't know what his ceiling is but his floor looks like an NHL player, which isn't a small thing.

 

[Prominence]

I want one more season in the ahl to maximize sandin’s offensive potential.

What a great pick.