Watched most of the Marlies playoff run and a fair amount during the regular season, here are my thoughts
- Mueller is a staple in the organization, I'm sure they will pay him NHL money to play in the AHL again, like I'm sure they did for Keefe
- Carcone is interesting to me, has a lot of offensive tools, with another year of working on his defensive game he could make the big club
- I don't see Babcock being a fan of Bracco, as good as he is offensively I have trouble seeing him crack the lineup unless Kapanen and or Brown are traded
- Korshkov, Holllowel, Duszak, Lindgren I'm judging from a small sample size but they all have NHL potential, a full year in the AHL will do them good
- Baptiste has the toolset to be developed into another Zach Hyman, clocks ticking now though at his age
- Timashov, Subban are never going to make it out of the AHL at this point
- Not 100% McGregor and Gordeev are deserving of ELCs but its a close call, we are also not that deep at C / LD and lose rights to them this summer
- Lindgren, Engvall, Marchment and Brooks would all be good candidates for calls up in case of injury, but should all spend most of the year in the AHL
- Bracco, Sandin, Liljegren probably don't make it out of camp, but get a late season tryout similar to Moore/Johnsson/Kapanen/Dermott in recent years
- Really hope Borgman has a bounce back year, he's been unlucky with injuries, actually didn't mind his play during his 50 game nhl stint
- The goalie battle will be interesting to follow next year, unless somebody has an absolutely amazing training camp, I don't think anybody is taking Sparks job to start off the season. Kaskisuo is a lock to be on the Marlies after the playoff run he's had, and one of Scott or Woll will get the backup position to start the season. Loser of that probably goes to play for the Growlers, Dubas seems keen on using the ECHL for development more often. Scott could be sent back to junior but I think it'd be better for him to be against tougher competition after the dominant season he had in the whl
- Everything above are safe bets... my hot take would be that Lindgren makes the big club out of camp next year. 2 out of his 4 games we're pretty questionable but that's to be expected being thrown in like that on a different surface, otherwise I really like his toolset and decision making... Also we are weak at RD in case you haven't heard
Carcone may have had a good playoffs but I dont see him ever making it to the big club. He is an AHLer for life. I also think you have it all wrong with Timashov he is too skilled for the AHL but has moments where he is lost. Baptiste could be next years Tyler Ennis if resigned.
I've watched the Marlies too, I actually believe Timashov has a great chance to make the Leafs as a bench warmer, much like Holl did last year. The only reason the below NHL minimum salary money they both signed years ago. Timashov has good NHL 4th line capabilities, minus the size, Engvall is bigger and stronger but is more expensive and Timashov plays the pest role well.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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