The Toronto Maple Leafs have been on a tear through the end of November into December, and while lots of that is because of stellar goaltending and the core players performing at their best, a quiet part of the team’s strong play has been prospect Fraser Minten.

Drafted by the Maple Leafs as a second-round pick in 2022, Minten played four games with the team last season before he was returned to his junior team. A year later, we’re seeing why the Maple Leafs trusted him enough to give him those four games as a 19-year-old. He was called up along with fellow 2022 draftee Nikita Grebenkin in the wake of injuries to Max Domi and David Kampf, and he’s done just about everything possible to impress his coach and his teammates since his arrival.

The forward has two goals and four points in six games since being recalled, which is impressive, but his two-way game has been his calling card since his draft year, and it’s what’s earned him some well-deserved praise from head coach Craig Berube.

Minten didn’t register a point against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night, but he finished the night with five shots and seven hits, proving that he can hang with the best of the best and ensuring he was making an impact in the game instead of just doing cardio. To have your work ethic compared to John Tavares, who’s respected league-wide for his drive, isn’t just any compliment, and to have your head coach vouch for you to stay even when the group of injured established NHLers is healthy proves that Berube sees him as part of the solution.

He’s also displayed a level of maturity not many players his age have, with Berube noting that he’s one of the more vocal players on the bench.

“He’s excellent. He talks, really, like a vet on the bench,” Berube said. “He’s already got that mindset and knows the game extremely well. He’s not a guy you gotta really teach a whole lot to. It’s just, he needs reps. Because he understands the game. He understands the systems very well.”

The Maple Leafs will have some decisions to make as they continue to get healthy, but it seems evident at least for the time being that Minten won’t be going anywhere when the team is back to full health. It might not be a bad idea to keep a closer watch on the trade wire over the next few weeks.