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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.

Leivo is cut from the powerforward cloth and unlike the Leafs‘ other powerforward prospect, Tyler Biggs, Leivo will play with the puck on his stick.  My opinion on Leivo would be that his ceiling is higher than Biggs’ but that he’s also not as safe of a prospect.  Leivo does more on Sudbury than Biggs does in Oshawa largely because he has to, but Biggs does the little things better than Leivo at this stage.  It will be fun to continue comparing these two as their careers are both likely move in tandem to the professional ranks to start next season.

Matt Finn, also recently back from some time out of the lineup, put up a pair of powerplay goals in two games this weekend. I’ve often raved about Finn’s play on the man-advantage and I love being vindicated so allow me this sentence-long self-congratulation.  Finn now has an impressive 11 goals in 28 games from the point in his draft+1 season.  Lots to get excited about with this youngster.

From vindication to contradiction, Connor Brown continues throwing points on the board in handfuls.  Brown is now 12th in OHL scoring in his draft+1 season and has more points than any of the Leafs other CHL skaters.  Brown’s 43 points in 35 games are certainly something to get excited about (he added 5 points in 3 games this weekend).  I’m stubbornly standing by my assessment that Brown is most likely a Junior Star more than an actual noteworthy prospect but if he’s meaningfully over a point-per-game by year’s end then he may just have me eating my words.

Morgan Rielly, Tyler Biggs, and Garret Sparks have all left their Junior teams to prepare for the World Juniors.  The tournament should be especially fun this year with all the baby Leafs involved — get your PVRs ready!

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