The Maple Leafs rookies are 2-0 through two with one game to go after dropping the Montreal Canadiens’ rookies 4-3 on Saturday night.
Last night’s game had far more intensity to it than the night before versus Ottawa. The Budweiser Gardens arena was better populated, with a solid minority of Habs fans in attendance, and it seemed to rub off on the players.
Leaf goal scorers: Keaton Middleton, Tony Cameranesi, Tobias Lindberg, Andrew Nielsen
Forwards
Sometimes it’s difficult to provide commentary on the Leafs forwards because they have so many similarities. Prospects who are less than six foot and are quick skaters with skill: Trevor Moore, Andreas Johnsson, Adam Brooks, Jeremy Bracco, Martins Dzierkals, Tony Cameranesi, and Dmytro Timashov.
Andreas Johnsson didn’t disappoint in his debut. He has excellent acceleration and quickness, he’s strong on his edges, and he works hard to get in a position to let his shot go. His concussion seems to be a thing of the past because he even played with a little physicality last night. As I said in yesterday’s comments, it’s hard to gauge these players seeing them in one or maybe two games. Martins Dzierkals looked sharp, but I need to see more. Of that bunch, my best guess is Timashov is at the head of the class, with Johnsson next in line, followed by Dzierkals.
Yesterday I commented on the fact that I really thought Frederik Gauthier was showing improved offensive instincts. After his line had some quality chances again last night, he ends up getting a big assist on the winning goal by Nielsen. Hopefully this tournament is a confidence builder for The Goat going into the new season.
Mitch Marner demonstrated once again what elite skills he has at this disposal – touch passes, awareness of teammates around him, and the ability to hound opponents on the forecheck. Obviously, there’s nothing to worry about with his point production in this tournament. Put him with some NHL players and they’ll be burying a lot of those chances.
This pass by Mitch Marner. Damn. pic.twitter.com/0hDMPPqhzH
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 17, 2016
Defensemen
My impression of Andrew Nielsen at last Fall’s tournament was that he needed to put some work in on his skating, and that’s still true this year. His overall mobility isn’t bad, but he doesn’t seem to have the acceleration or top end speed. I do think he’s got above average hockey IQ as he usually makes the right move and gets into the right position, and of course he’s got the size — he just needs to put a little muscle on his frame. Given his standout junior stats last season, he obviously has some offensive talent. In that respect, the attribute that stands out is his ability to really wire a puck; sure enough, he ended up with the game winner.
Travis Dermott is probably a better skater and puck-moving defenseman than Nielsen, but he seemed to have a bit of an off night. It wasn’t just the dumb penalties; I’ve seen him live many times, and he is usually much more dominant and consistent over 60 minutes.
What can I say about Keaton Middleton? He is big, but he’s going to be a major project. It’s nice that he scored a goal, but he obviously needs some quality time with Barb Underhill. You couldn’t help but feel bad for Justin Holl, who was paired with Middleton and spent a lot of time covering for him. Holl is no slouch at 6’3, yet he looked small out there compared to Middleton.
It was another really positive night for Nicolas Mattinen. There were more penalties in this game and Nicolas saw a fair bit of the ice on the PK, where he acquitted himself well.
Goalie
Antoine Bibeau was, in the words of Randy, “okay, just okay.” The only other time I’ve ever seen him live, he played lights out stopping 51 shots in a shutout against the London Knights in the first game of the 2014 Memorial Cup. Truth be told, he actually played pretty well last night, but it paled in comparison to the sterling performance Kaskisuo put on the night before. One of the best moments of the night was when Will Bitten jammed Bibeau in the crease a la Brendan Gallagher and Bibeau flattened him with a left.
– Report by Knights2Leafs
