Mailbag: Cough Sneeze

If there’s one fall back to not being the extremely large person I used to be, it’s that my immune system sucks these days. I pick up stuff quite easily from people, and generally tend to get it worse. A minor cough and sneeze from a friend of mine has since turned into a couple of days of a full-on cold that may also end up being a sinus infection. But the show must go on, right? I’ve spent the last two Marlies games shivering in the press box and today, I’m taking a crack at some of your questions. Lets go!

To submit a question, send me a tweet, email me, ask me, or leave a comment.

Thanks for the question! This series isn’t the best of examples to use when judging the Marlies’ “style of play”. Texas is probably the best team in the American Hockey League and has played overwhelmingly good hockey for 3 1/2 of the first four games. The Marlies have also been in the penalty box a lot.

The Leafs organization likes to keep play styles similar between their big club and affiliates, but the Marlies seem to employ less of the ‘wingers casually cherry picking’ on the breakout, a bit less dump and chase, and bulid their powerplay schemes based on the point (as you would when you have TJ Brennan on one side and convert Spencer Abbott into a special teams defenceman).

Josh Leivo has shown a bunch of positive traits this year. Spott is keen on comparing him and their development plans for him to Joffrey Lupul, and I think that goes beyond the slight tan, right handed shot, and matching initials. That said, I think he’s at least a year away. His 16.2 shooting percentage is rather high, and one of just three on the team above 14%. McKegg’s makes sense because he rarely shoots unless he’s alone in the slot, D’Amigo feasts on empty nets and turnovers, but Leivo’s shots are typically wristers with some decent distance from the net. I’d expect his numbers to drop at worst and maintain at best next year, and to see him get an NHL promotion the year after.

I was starting to think the Islanders would be a great fit before they acquired and signed Halak, which was a good move on their part. I also thought the Jets would be a stellar one until they committed to Ondrej Pavelec, which is an amazing move if they’re interested in Connor McDavid. Now, I’m leaning towards Calgary. There’s the Burke connection, not to mention the fact that they have no other goalies immediately ready.

I believe so. Scott Gordon’s “exit” interview with James Mirtle implies that the team felt they missed him this year, and if the Leafs are serious about getting with the times yet still keeping a tough identity, a good possession player who hits everything in sight, draws penalties, kills penalties, drives opponents insane, loves being a Leaf, and as he’s shown in Russia this year, might be capable of producing with more minutes is a good thing to pursue. Especially when the negotiation process is believed to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

I’m not ready to write him off completely; he did just turn 21, after all. But I hope he spends his offseason working his butt off. Like, I wouldn’t even leave Toronto and I’d spend as much time as possible with the staff, if I were him. There isn’t a single element of his game that appears to be progressing to expectation.

This isn’t necessarily his fault; he wasn’t the one who created the expectations placed on him, and from what I’ve seen, he’s putting the effort out there. But you have to think that next year is do or die for him.