Leafs Prospects
The CHL Playoffs are just getting underway -- unfortunately for most of the Leafs' prospects, they're also wrapping up. [more…]
Earlier this week, the Leafs director of amateur scouting, Dave Morrison, took some time out of his schedule to talk to me.
We ended up speaking for nearly an hour and we went over so much that I decided to break it down by section and quote him where appropriate. So with that, please do not misconstrue anything said below and contact me for clarification if you are unsure about anything.
With all that out of the way, here are the highlights from our chat: [more…]
From Matt Iaboni at MapleLeafs.com:
"Maple Leafs 2012 first round pick Morgan Rielly was named the WHL Eastern Conference Defenceman Of The Year and he was [more…]
It's playoff time in the CHL.
To the surprise of nobody who follows me on Twitter or reads this column with any regularity, Morgan Rielly [more…]
Welcome to the Playoffs, Awards, and Injury Ward edition of the Leafs Prospect Update!
Starting with the bad news, Erie Captain and surprise statistical standout Connor Brown suffered a head injury (read: concussion) against London on the 18th and missed this weekend's games. Erie is well out of the playoff mix and I wouldn't be surprised to see Brown sit out the rest of the year to recover -- it's probably what's best for him in the long run. [more…]
If Tyler Biggs were Russian, he'd be considered an enigma. Biggs has been taken off of Oshawa's top powerplay unit (though he remains on their [more…]
After being away from his teammates for both the World Junior Championships and the Leafs' pre-season camp, Morgan Rielly returned to Moose Jaw and the Warriors returned to the win column for the first time since his departure. [more…]
The resolution to the NHL lockout combined with the commencement of the second half of the CHL season has predictably stirred up some player movement in the NHL's development leagues.
As far as Leaf property, third round pick in 2011 Josh Leivo was traded to the Kitchener Rangers in a deal that saw the Sudbury Wolves move their top forward in Leivo, top defenceman in Frankie Corrado and starting goaltender Joel Vienneau in one swoop. [more…]
After the jump, notes and stats tables for last Leafs prospect update of 2012. [more…]
At this point in time, it is probably fair to call Morgan Rielly the most hyped Leafs prospect since Wendel Clark. I don't know whether or not that's fair, but with great hype comes great expectations.
To this point, Rielly hasn’t done anything to really quash the excitement that is building for him. He’s scored electric goals, he’s played well for Canada in the past, and now he’s on the World Juniors team.
In essence, Rielly is following the path of many elite defensemen before him. With that in mind, I collected some stats on how players he’s been compared to have performed in this tournament. Hopefully, it will serve as some sort of barometer on what to expect from the young Leafs prospect. [more…]
Welcome back, Josh Leivo.
After missing time with a concussion, Leivo returned to the Sudbury Wolves lineup last week and he did so with a vengeance. The Wolves had 3 games in 3 nights this weekend and Leivo put up 2 goals and 5 assists. Leivo now has 34 points in 29 games on a pretty weak Sudbury team. [more…]
With World Junior selection camps getting under way this week, a handful of Leafs prospects will be leaving their CHL teams to join up with their national all-star teams. Â If you'd like a quick breakdown on the Leafs prospects who will be involved in the World Junior Championships, here's a short post I put together over at Pension Plan Puppets. Â This natural break in the schedule seems like as good a time as any to check in with where our kids are sitting among their peers at this stage of the season. [more…]
