Kyle Dubas tells media William Nylander will play centre for the Marlies this season adding Matt Finn will bounce back as a 2nd year pro.
— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) July 9, 2015
The Marlies opted to start Nylander on his off wing (left side) in his initial AHL transition starting late in January. After some time to adjust to the rink size and competition, and a summer of training that has Nylander looking a fair amount thicker, it looks like Nylander will shift to the position he played all the way growing up, including for MoDo in the first half of last year. Nylander is already well on his way to his father’s dimensions; Michael played center at 5’11, 190-195lbs. Nylander is in the 5’11-5’11.5 range and the latest weight report had him at around 189, according to Nylander himself on Leafs Lunch.
With Nylander’s talent level, right shot and history at (and preference for) the position, it would be silly not to give Nylander every chance to become the high-end center the organization sorely needs. It looks like he’ll get that chance starting this Fall at the Ricoh.
I asked him who he plays like and what he wants to be. It’s very clear he feels he should be in the middle and he likes to have the puck a lot. That’s a great thing. Now he has to work hard enough to have the puck a lot.
– Mike Babcock on William Nylander
Thursday Links:
- Staff: Maple Leafs sign Martin Marincin to one-year, $700,000 contract (MLHS)
The addition of Marincin, still just 23 with only one full season under his belt, for the price of next to nothing has been a little lost in the shuffle with all the activity of the past few weeks, but it was a clever buy low on a player with some promise and some proven ability who needs an opportunity. On an awful Oilers team, Marincin has a career 48.3CF%, and at times proved able to hold his own in tough match-ups.
I - Elliotte Friedman: 30 Thoughts — Players like Kessel tough to find (Sportsnet)
At the end of the day, Kessel was traded because he was Toronto’s most marketable player they were willing to deal. He could get the best return, including cap space. Nothing else excited them and bringing back the same group was unacceptable to Brendan Shanahan. There’s no doubt this was unfulfilled potential for him and for the team. He’s a lightning rod, a polarizing figure and is responsible for that. But the toughest thing the Maple Leafs lose is a talented player who (for the most part) could ignore the market noise. You need guys like that in Canada, who either embrace it (Subban) or tune it out (Sedins). That’s hard to find. And I think there are some charities who will really miss him. He did a lot, very quietly.
I - Ryan Lambert: In praise of Maple Leafs’ brilliant rebuild (Puck Daddy)
This is now the second summer in a row in which the Leafs have mostly made smart, small moves that probably improve their team marginally in the short term, but will likely have benefits lasting far longer than the contracts will.
I - Jonas Siegel: Maple Leafs putting new spin on player development (TSN)
The Leafs want to build players who can one day play for Babcock at the NHL level and structured the camp with that thinking in mind. Key to the process was finding out what Babcock was looking for in players, then working to “bring out those elements in these players,” according to Pellerin.
I - Justin Bourne: Don’t be surprised if the Leafs keep Dion Phaneuf, and like the results (The Score)
In Detroit, Babcock had players and leaders he knew and respected. He had relationships. He’s coming into Toronto cold. Phaneuf is, as a media member described to me, ever the good soldier. He’s coming into next season on the same page as Babcock, which is an awfully nice start for the new coach. He can trust that his message will be enforced, if not amplified.
I - Chris Lund: Scott Pellerin on Prospect Camp (MapleLeafs.com)
We kind of broke it into different positional situations. We focused on the breakout elements and then transitioned into more neutral zone with forwards and D in both areas and then we moved into the offensive zone. Always continuing the concepts of moving back into the defensive zone so we start that. You saw the way we transitioned in our zones, we did breakouts, Darryl worked into his neutral zone tactics, Mike Ellis and his staff worked down at some offensive zone stuff. That was kind of the concept and for the first three days we’ll do that. It ties everything in to the Leaf language we’re trying to build.
I - Lance Hornby: Loov looks to impress Maple Leafs (Toronto Sun)
Loov is a robust 6-foot-3 and close to 200 pounds, employing a personal trainer this summer after making good strides in his first season in North America. He also made some enemies in last year’s rookie tournament with thundering checks and later in the AHL, but does not consider himself on the wrong side of the line.
I - Staff: Armstrong: Playing with Phil Kessel ‘frustrating’ (Sportsnet)
“We all see what he does: He skates fast to the puck, he shoots the puck, he can make things happen. But when the game’s on the line, if he can get a goal for you, that’s about all he’s gonna do. As far as winning battles and the extra mile, it did become, for me as a teammate, a little bit frustrating at times.”
I - Adam Gretz: The Maple Leafs front office is finally giving their fans some hope (CBS Sports)
What should be most encouraging for Maple Leafs fans is the approach the new front office under the leadership of Brendan Shanahan has taken when it comes to rebuilding the team. Not only is there now a core of promising young prospects they can build around (Morgan Reilly, William Nylander, Kasperi Kapenen, Mitch Marner), everything the team has done the past two seasons is about maximizing the return on assets they already have and assets they acquire.
