Who do you guys think is better going into next season, Andreas Johnsson or Josh Leivo? Lets say they were fighting for a spot in the top 9 and only one of them could take it, who do you think does?
We have more openings at LW so Leivo. Only chance Johnsson plays up in the lineup is (barring any major changes) if Kapanen slides over to the left side, Nylander moves to C..or if Johnsson himself plays the left side.
Overall, Johnsson's road will be a bit tougher, and he'll also have to outplay Johnsson for that spot....Babcock can pretty stubborn about the leash he gives certain players. Unfortunately (or not) for Leivo, his leash is likely, extremely short compared to guys like Komarov, Martin, Polak, etc.
I mean, last year, Leivo was extremely good for a decent stretch on that 4th line and he still couldn't buy Martin's spot secondary to Martin's leash...and the fact he couldn't play on the PK/a speed game. There's not much more he could have done last year with his minutes, usage, IMO (to be fair, his injury also may have contributed to it).