Leafs Prospect Update – October 19, 2014
9 years ago
Nylander The Best
In case you weren’t aware, William Nylander is very good at hockey. The eighth overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry draft, it didn’t take long for Nylander to make a good impression on his MODO teammates. In his first SHL game of the season, Nylander scored the game winner in the third to give MODO a 2-1 victory over Linkoping.
You can watch the game’s highlights here. Nylander’s goal (which is very pretty) can be found at the 2:02 mark, but do yourself a favour and watch Simeon Onerud’s breakaway goal/goalie jump at 0:50 as well. It’s hilarious.
Nylander pushed his point streak to two games with an assist in yesterday’s 3-1 loss to Brynas. While a single assist isn’t particularly noteworthy, the fact that Nylander lead all MODO forwards in ice time (21:43) is damn impressive.
Toninato Also Very Good
Toninato scored once in University of Minnesota-Duluth’s 5-4 loss to Minnesota State on Friday night, and added another goal (shorthanded) and assist in the Saturday rematch. You can see the highlights from Saturday’s win below – look out for Toninato in maroon wearing #19.
With five goals in his first four games, Toninato leads the NCHC in goal scoring. His seven points are tied for third in all of the NCAA.
Goaltending Depth(!?)
I normally leave the Marlies updates to Jeffler, but can we talk about Antoine Bibeau for a minute? First off, you’re lying if you claimed you knew Bibeau would win the Marlies starting goaltender job. Second, you’d never have expected a start this good.
Through the first three games of his pro career, Bibeau sports a 2-1-1 records with a 1.25 GAA and a .959 SV%. Is it possible that Bibeau would get the call up ahead of Sparks or Gibson if one of Bernier or Reimer went down? That’s insane.
Speaking of Sparks, it’s not like he’s taking his demotion to Orlando lying down. In his first two games of the ECHL season, Sparks has a 1.00 GAA and a .973 SV%. Just because he was the guy to be left off the Marlies roster shouldn’t be reason to write him off. I’d venture a guess that Sparks is still #3 or #4 on the Leafs’ goaltending depth chart, but they’d rather see him get regular starts while the organization sees what they have in Bibeau.
Other News
- Not to be shown up by his UMD teammate, Tony Cameranesi matched Toninato’s pace with a goal and two assists this weekend.
- Andreas Johnson scored two goals in two games this past week. He leads Frolunda with five goals and 37 shots.
- Dakota Joshua has four goals and nine points in eight games so far this season for the Sioux Falls Stampede. He’s tied for fourth in USHL scoring.
- Brad Ross leads the Solar Bears with three goals and five points through two games. That’s good for a first place tie atop the ECHL top scorer’s table. My guess is Ross wants to return to the Marlies pretty bad.
- Carter Verhaeghe scored once and assisted on another on Saturday evening, helping Niagara beat Sudbury for just their second win of the season.
- Frederik Gauthier and Rinat Valiev, both injured, have yet to play a game this season.
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