Leafs Links: Bob McKenzie pumps the breaks on Colin Miller to Leafs; Matthews takes the Calder, Babcock the runner up for Jack Adams; New Jersey Devils leaning Cale Makar at first overall?

Final aggregated draft rankings and profiles ahead of the 2017 draft, updates on the Colin Miller-to-Leafs report, Auston Matthews is the runaway winner of the Calder Trophy, and more in the links.

Leafs/NHL Links

Ferraro: Miller is a great skater with a huge shot (TSN1050)
TSN Hockey Analyst Ray Ferraro joined OverDrive to react to the report the Golden Knights will flip defenseman Colin Miller to the Leafs, the Leafs facing the Winnipeg Jets in their season opener and building the rivalry between Laine and Matthews.

Miller is raw, and he’s played now one-year in the NHL. The year before he was in and out — mostly out — in Boston.  Miller went to Boston from Los Angeles in the Lucic trade. He was a big scorer that year in the American league. Really good skater. He’s got a huge shot. The questions with Miller have been his inconsistencies defensively and that he’s not a real physical guy. But he can really skate. He can really, really shoot it. In Boston, they ran into a logjam on the right side. They have Kevan Miller. They had McQuaid. At the start of the year, they brought in Brandon Carlo, who had a fantastic year. Miller was playing a little bit of the left side. He was in the lineup and out of the lineup. I don’t know that he’s really found his footing yet. I don’t know if he’s ever going to be a guy that’s really, really consistent defending. He certainly won’t be a physical guy.

One of the things coaches have really taken to, whether they’re into general analytics or not — they’ve almost across the board endorsed zone starts and where a player gets deployed more often than not. Colin Miller — you’ve got guys you’ll be more comfortable with starting in the defensive zone. But you’ve got to be careful about building your whole defence that way. Eventually, someone’s got to start back by your net.

As for all these Colin Miller to TOR rumors, driven in part by Dubas/Keefe connection, I'd never say never, BUT it may be more media driven.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 22, 2017

Miller to TOR may make all kinds of sense, and who knows, maybe it happens, but my understanding is it's not been on their radar recently.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 22, 2017

Nick Kypreos: Vegas unlikely to make big deals (Fan 590)
The Hockey Central panellist shares his views on the inaugural roster for the Golden Knights, how competitive Vegas can be in their first season, the importance of getting blueline help soon for the Leafs, if the draft will see much drama, and Mike Babcock not winning the Jack Adams.

On the Leafs‘ search for a defenceman:

I would think that they believe there is a window for the next two or three years where they feel like they can win a Stanley Cup or certainly compete for one. And then it’ll get tricky with the long-term contracts and the commitments and how much Auston wants and Marner and Willy. They’ve got to go out and get that core defenceman yesterday. They’re on it. They’re looking.

There is a lot of talk about Colin Miller coming to Toronto and he’ll once again be a good serviceable player, but they can certainly look for a top-four. Vatanen might still be in play here. They need that type of guy and they know now the process has been sped up because of the fact that they’ve got their core now and look like they can compete for the next 5-10 years if you can keep them all together.

On Mike Babcock finishing runner-up for the Jack Adams:

I’m sure Leafs fans would’ve liked to have seen Babcock and Matthews going two for two, but it’s hard to argue with a team winning sixteen in a row and Tortorella was as worthy as anybody. I have no problem with that decision. I’m not even sure who votes for, but Babcock has done a heck of a job. He’s got them all buying in. Whether or not he thinks he got ripped off, you assume in the next four or five years he’s going to have his crack at that trophy with Matthews leading the way.

McGuire: Miller has upside, known to Leafs management (TSN1050)
NHL on NBC analyst Pierre McGuire joined Leafs Lunch ahead of the expansion draft and NHL Awards tonight, gives his pick for the Jack Adams and provides a scouting report on Colin Miller.

He’s an offensive point producer from the backend. He can skate. He can move the puck. He’s more of a puck transporter than anything else. He’s not going to be the most in-your-face, hardcore defenceman, but he makes a great initial pass. He knows when to jump in the rush. He can run a second power play unit. Kyle Dubas would know him as well as anybody from Sault Ste. Marie. There are a lot of internals there, too. Mark Hunter would know him really well from the OHL. I think there’s upside to that player.

2017 NHL Draft Rankings – Final List (MLHS)
Liljegren owns a potential #1 defenceman’s skill set. A fantastic skater over all ranges, he’s a great problem solver in his own end. Thanks to his elusiveness and stickhandling ability, he’s able to beat players one-on-one. He owns a big one-timer on the power play and a hard, accurate wrist shot that can solve goalies from far out. His season was beset by mono and he was also traded part way through in search of more ice time. He’s been labelled a one-way defenceman, but he has good defensive instincts that can be honed. Originally considered a surefire top three pick early in the season, he could go anywhere from 5-20 in the draft.

Pronman: "[It] has been indicated to me from several NHL sources that the Devils are leaning towards selecting Makar first overall."

— Kurt (@Kurt_BSH) June 22, 2017

Auston Matthews is the 2017 Calder Trophy winner (MLHS)
In his first season, he led the Leafs to their first playoff appearance in four years, broke a bunch of team records, and claimed a piece of hardware no Leaf rookie has won in over 50 years, dating back to 1966. You don’t need any reminding about the significance of the following season. With an elite franchise center like Matthews leading the way, the Leafs are arguably in the best shape they’ve ever been to end that drought, too.

Maple Leafs’ Matthews wins Calder Trophy (Toronto Sun)
“It’s been fun working with Mike, he’s really detail-oriented and wants people to get better,” said Matthews, who helped get the Leafs back in the playoffs with 40 goals and 69 points, both team rookie records and tops in the league. “My whole life, all I’ve really wanted to do is score. I’m pretty fortunate a lot of good players were able to get me the puck and I just tried to utilize my skill set.”

.@AM34 meets with the media. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/oWkkrOFqRA

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) June 22, 2017

10 NHL Awards takeaways: Auston Matthews wins in laugher (Sportsnet)
Very cool scene as Canadiens legend Bob Gainey presented future Bruins Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron with his fourth Frank J. Selke Trophy. The only four-time winners in NHL history, Gainey and Bergy are now locked in a two-way tie for the two-way forward award. Bergeron has finished first or second in Selke voting in each of the past six seasons. Remarkable.

Vegas Golden Knights Roster