Marlies Talk 14/15 | aka What's Nylander up to?

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Gibson moves to 11-3-0 in his last 14.

He's clearly the number one now.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Leivo is an interesting case, he looks really dominant at times on the ice, carries the puck, physical, good interplay with teammates and a good shot, almost too good for the AHL, but his production is down this year as compared to his rookie season.

Tied at 1 through 2.

Steve Burtch on Twitter was saying his shot generation is actually up this season, but his SH% has dropped 6 or 7 points.

Yeah, I still think he has scoring line potential.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Marlies are now in 8th.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Marlies are now in 8th.

Some games-in-hand there from a few teams behind them, but the Marlies have a better last-10 record than all of them. That's great.

Nylander with a goal and 5 shots yesterday, the goal coming from a nice pass by McKegg:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZoOZoPz2hA[/youtube]

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Last night's games bumped the Marlies out of a playoff spot, this is what the standings look like now:

4 teams separated by 1 point fighting for the final spot. Marlies with the best L10 record though so hopefully that keeps up. Here's the Marlies week in review from PPP:

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2015/3/16/8225251/marlies-week-in-review-mar-16-the-playoff-push

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Marlies win again, despite having two very good goals disallowed, Byron Froese tied it in the 3rd period and then scored the winner moments later to give them a 3-2 victory over Oklahoma.

Froese signed an AHL contract for next season this week. I imagine he will be given plenty of opportunity at training camp.

Marlies now just 1 point back with two games in hand on the teams ahead of them.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The Marlies followed up a tough loss which LK totally jinxed on Saturday vs. Hamilton with a big win Sunday against Rochester. They're still 2 points out of a playoff spot, but they have a pair of games in hand.

Connor Brown had a 4-point game, taking over the rookie scoring lead in the process. He has 55 points in 66 games. Nylander had a goal and an assist, his goal being a very pretty one coming from an equally impressive pass by Brown. I'll post the link below. They'll both finish the month of March with 10 points in 11 games.

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2015/3/29/8309117/brown-feeds-nylander-for-goal

 

[pmrules]

The Marlies followed up a tough loss which LK totally jinxed on Saturday vs. Hamilton with a big win Sunday against Rochester. They're still 2 points out of a playoff spot, but they have a pair of games in hand.

Connor Brown had a 4-point game, taking over the rookie scoring lead in the process. He has 55 points in 66 games. Nylander had a goal and an assist, his goal being a very pretty one coming from an equally impressive pass by Brown. I'll post the link below. They'll both finish the month of March with 10 points in 11 games.

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2015/3/29/8309117/brown-feeds-nylander-for-goal

So...what about this Connor Brown Kid?  Is he good enough to make the Leafs in a year or two?  Is he a top 6 player, or can he play on the bottom 6?

 

[Frank E]

The Marlies followed up a tough loss which LK totally jinxed on Saturday vs. Hamilton with a big win Sunday against Rochester. They're still 2 points out of a playoff spot, but they have a pair of games in hand.

Connor Brown had a 4-point game, taking over the rookie scoring lead in the process. He has 55 points in 66 games. Nylander had a goal and an assist, his goal being a very pretty one coming from an equally impressive pass by Brown. I'll post the link below. They'll both finish the month of March with 10 points in 11 games.

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2015/3/29/8309117/brown-feeds-nylander-for-goal

So...what about this Connor Brown Kid?  Is he good enough to make the Leafs in a year or two?  Is he a top 6 player, or can he play on the bottom 6?

Kid's a rookie in the AHL...size might be an issue...so get out your crystal ball.

 

[bustaheims]

Kid's a rookie in the AHL...size might be an issue...so get out your crystal ball.

With the direction the league seems to be taking, size is becoming less and less of an issue on the wing. He is still an AHL rookie, so, yeah, he's still probably a couple years away.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

So...what about this Connor Brown Kid?  Is he good enough to make the Leafs in a year or two?  Is he a top 6 player, or can he play on the bottom 6?

Brown actually worked pretty hard on his defensive game during junior. He was named the 2nd best penalty killer in the Western conference in the 2014 OHL coaches poll. And he kills penalties for the Marlies too. So top-6 or bottom-6? He'll probably be more of a middle-6 kind of player. The biggest knocks of him during junior were size and speed, but he's worked hard to improve at both those areas too. I was hesitant about his NHL future until he was able to prove he could produce at the professional level, but given what he's done in his AHL rookie season I'm optimistic he'll be a good player for us.

 

[Frank E]

So...what about this Connor Brown Kid?  Is he good enough to make the Leafs in a year or two?  Is he a top 6 player, or can he play on the bottom 6?

Brown actually worked pretty hard on his defensive game during junior. He was named the 2nd best penalty killer in the Western conference in the 2014 OHL coaches poll. And he kills penalties for the Marlies too. So top-6 or bottom-6? He'll probably be more of a middle-6 kind of player. The biggest knocks of him during junior were size and speed, but he's worked hard to improve at both those areas too. I was hesitant about his NHL future until he was able to prove he could produce at the professional level, but given what he's done in his AHL rookie season I'm optimistic he'll be a good player for us.

I didn't know speed was an issue...I suppose I made the improper assumption that since he was a smaller guy, he had some NHL speed.

I shouldn't make those assumptions.

 

[Kin]

I didn't know speed was an issue...I suppose I made the improper assumption that since he was a smaller guy, he had some NHL speed.

I think it's fairly safe to assume that if someone gets picked in the 6th round they won't have any skills that are directly translatable to the NHL and that whatever career they do make of it will be after further development.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

I didn't know speed was an issue...I suppose I made the improper assumption that since he was a smaller guy, he had some NHL speed.

I think it's fairly safe to assume that if someone gets picked in the 6th round they won't have any skills that are directly translatable to the NHL and that whatever career they do make of it will be after further development.

That was especially true for Brown, he was written off by a lot of people at just about every step since he started in the OHL.

There have been lots of stories about him being so focused and driven in his off ice commitment and a burning desire to put in work to improve all areas of his game.

I mean he is a different type of player, but I've rarely seen people speak about a young guy with commitment like that, reminds me of Gary Roberts somewhat in that regard. Rob Brindamour was another with that type of reputation for having a fire inside.

I don't think Brown will be a star, but I think he will find a way to be a very good 2nd/3rd line forward.

 

[Highlander]

In the few Marlies games I have watched it is Brown who constantly impresses with his heads up play, he has great vision and knows where the puck will be, it seems to follow him around which is always the sign of a good player. Think he could pan out on the 2nd, certainly the 3rd line.

 

[Frank E]

Siegel's got a little write up on tsn.ca:

But Gord Dineen, the Toronto Marlies first-year head coach, still wondered whether the thin-framed sixth round Leafs prospect could translate his skills at the next level. These were the same questions, mind you, that dogged a then 5-foot-7, 120-pound Brown when he was picked 251st overall in the OHL draft.
There were also the McDavid questions. Had Brown, who played alongside the projected No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming June draft, simply been a beneficiary of the most tantalizing prospect since Crosby? Was his dominance for real? "You don't just get 130 points by chiseling second apples," Marlies captain Troy Bodie said on the subject. "But you're always surprised at how people are going to react to a new league."

http://www.tsn.ca/talent/leaf-prospect-who-keeps-defying-the-odds-1.243939

Chiseling second apples...nice. 

 

[Kin]

Troy Bodie: Wordsmith.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

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@KyleTheReporter

Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas: 

"Being patient with prospects is easy as long as you believe in what you are doing"

"I?m a firm believer that the AHL team should be comprised of young players, give them a chance to see what they're about"

"The AHL team should be a team for young players to have a chance to develop to their max potential in every single regard

"We need to bring the players up when they're ready to be regular contributors, not when we need them to fill spot duty."

 

[L K]

I think Detroit waits too long with their prospects but there is a very nice middle ground that the Leafs could significantly benefit from if they remain patient with guys and let them master the lower leagues before they throw them to the wolves in the NHL. 

 

[Kin]

I think Detroit waits too long with their prospects but there is a very nice middle ground that the Leafs could significantly benefit from if they remain patient with guys and let them master the lower leagues before they throw them to the wolves in the NHL.

What do you suppose that middle ground is? I agree that waiting until they're 24 or so as Detroit sometimes does is probably too long but that's not hard and fast with Detroit. They typically make players regulars at 22 or 23. Likewise you look at the Marlies, the guys on that team with legitimate chances of becoming everyday NHLers are almost certainly not going to do it before they're 22 or 23 with the exception of Nylander.

I only ask because I remember the last time I got into a discussion about Holland's use of prospects and someone quoted him as saying that if he had a top 10 or top 5 pick he probably wouldn't keep them in the minors for very long either.