It’s tempting, and accurate in some ways, to think of the Toronto Maple Leafs as a team of placeholders, a roster of athletes just filling spots until the next generation is drafted, matures and arrives.
That’s the impression you leave, of course, when you fill your lineup with short-term deals for players like Brad Boyes, P.A. Parenteau, Michael Grabner and Martin Marincin.
William Nylander is with the AHL Toronto Marlies, Mitch Marner is piling up points for the OHL London Knights, and the current Leafs are just filling out jerseys until those players are ready, right?
Well, that might be partially true. But there are a couple of blue chip, highly-drafted players on the team’s NHL roster already — a reality shrouded by the team’s awful conclusion to last season and flaccid start to this season in which it captured one victory in all of October.
Nazem Kadri, let’s not forget, was the seventh overall pick of the 2009 NHL draft — one that featured John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene, and talented Swedish defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson at No. 6.
The Leafs have been as patient with Kadri as they have with any high first-round pick in the club’s history, and — stop me if you’ve heard this before — it could be that the 25-year-old centre is finally figuring it out.
“I feel like I’m starting to understand the game a lot better,” Kadri said. “Don’t get me wrong. I love the goals and assists. But there are lots of other ways to help a team win.”
Defenceman Morgan Rielly, meanwhile, is just 21 years old after being the fifth pick of the 2012 draft. Rearguards Ryan Murray and Griffin Reinhart went before him, but Rielly might just turn out to be better than both. Monday night against the Dallas Stars, he went head-to-head against the NHL’s leading scorer Jamie Benn all night long and, in his own words, did “OK.”
“If (Mike Babcock) wants me to be a shutdown defenceman, I’ll be a shutdown defenceman,” said Rielly after Toronto’s surprise 4-1 triumph over the high-flying Stars.
“If he wants me to block shots, I’ll block shots. He’s given me confidence that I can play defence. It’s changing my perspective on how to play the game the right way.”
The Leafs needed a 43-save performance from goalie James Reimer and some timely breaks to knock off the Stars, who came in with a 9-2 record while having scored exactly twice as many goals as Toronto. But they needed Kadri and Rielly to be good — if not great — and not necessarily as the flashy offensive players most projected them to be on the day they were drafted.
Kadri drew three penalties, hacked and chopped his way through traffic all night, got under Benn’s skin and bounced back after a pair of mediocre performances.
Rielly played every shift with partner Matt Hunwick against Benn, Tyler Seguin and Patrick Sharp, and despite that assignment ended up with a pretty goal at the end of the night to go with two assists.
“When I was 19, they were trying to keep me away from lines like that,” said Rielly, smiling. “I guess I’m an old guy now.”
While many believed the withered state of the Leafs’ talent pool meant it made no sense to shell out $50 million for Babcock last summer, this was precisely what president Brendan Shanahan envisioned: having an elite coach to guide the likes of Kadri and Rielly at critical stages in their development. These are, after all, two players likely to still be around when the Leafs get back to being a playoff team.
Both seem to be thriving, although with Kadri, you never quite know. Remember, this is a player who was suspended by the team last season for marching to his own drum too often.
“I feel like I’ve taken huge steps on and off the ice,” said Kadri, who led the league in penalties drawn last season. “The coaching staff is encouraging me, not pointing fingers at me maybe. I want to be a multi-dimensional player. I want to be able to play in all situations.”
Reimer, who is consistently getting more generous offensive support than partner Jonathan Bernier these days, stopped Valeri Nichushkin on a third period penalty shot to move to 4-0 in his career on those situations, and stared down Seguin on eight shot attempts.
The Stars certainly carried the play, but the Leafs arguably played a simpler, harder game at key moments to produce their second victory of the season.
“When you hand a team a couple of goals on missed assignments, I don’t think you deserve to win,” said Dallas coach Lindy Ruff.
Benn had a goal, but that was it for his line — one of the few nights this season it hasn’t been utterly dominant.
“[Benn] is like a running back,” said Rielly. “He makes contact with you first, then he starts to look for opportunities. It’s more exhausting dealing with that all night than carrying the puck up the ice.”
The Stars have all kinds of offensive talent, and appear to be a club set to make a breakthrough in the Western Conference if the goaltending holds up, John Klingberg continues to develop into an elite offensive blueliner and the club learns to play as energetically defensively as it does offensively. This was a blip on what has been a very pleasing start to the season.
For the Leafs, it was a break from losing for a team whose only other victory was Oct. 16 at Columbus. The club is unlikely to make the playoffs, but still there’s a need to get something worthwhile out of this season. Babcock and GM Lou Lamoriello are focussed on developing a team-first mentality and style of play, and if important talents like Kadri and Rielly can advance their games, it will ensure a difficult season isn’t a total loss.
