I like them both. I just don’t see them surpassing guys like marner nylander marleau or jvr on the depth charts. Now if those guys leave... but right now they’d have to play the penalty kill.
I don’t know how you can disagree when the usage of leivo over the past three years confirms what I’m saying.
I don't think they'll need to pass the Nylander/Marner echelon, but could be good supplements to it. JVR's probably a cap casualty this year, if so he's not competing for a spot. Marleau hasn't impressed me at all, he's fine but not an insurmountable obstacle, and by the time that Bracco gets a real look Marleau will be gone anyway, so a couple of the guys that you see as obstacles really aren't due to contract status or age.
Leivo plays both sides too, so he'd have to be better than Brown, Hyman, Marleau or Komarov. He is better than Hyman and Komarov, the other two are very open to debate, and that debate couldn't be conclusive until he actually got some playing time there
Leivo is at 70% defensive zone starts this year, and over 50% last year. His quality of linemates this year is among the worst on the team. Not sure if you mean that confirms that he's an offense-only player, or that he can't move up the lineup. He's a very good defensive player 5v5 because he's good at possessing the puck so he doesn't have to play defense, and he can't control his usage - he's earned better, the rest isn't in his hands
Finally got a chance to see the Marlies live this season, thoughts:
Timothy is raw. Clearly belongs and has flashes of absolute brilliance, is inconsistent shift to shift and clearly not NHL ready. Lots of room to grow in the AHL.
that might not be the worst thing to stagger RFA paydays. We might need to bridge a gap but if we shop well in free agency or the trade market I think we'll get by with a less than ideal top pair and a better than average 3rd pair (provided Babcock stops giving Polak contract/icetime)
Honestly, I'd take a good chance at a top pairing dman than a really good chance at another middle pairing dman with Liljegren, so that sounds like good news to me