Ceci and Miki have team best plus-minus after Game 12

You never think you'd get a Russian forward who can play defense.

Love the kid's game and attitude and wholeheartedly agree that the Leafs scouting staff did a heck of a job finding a 6'3 guy with wheels, edges, moves and a shot that is committed to playing a 200-foot game. I would argue he is the best or second best penalty killing forward on the Leafs right now (not including an injured Hyman). I guess my concern here, what will he want/need to resign with the Leafs. Early success on a last year of an ELC (feels like deja vu here) has not bode well for the Leafs and for a Dubas negotiation, especially considering how tight the cap is moving forward.

As for Ceci, I think he is overmatched playing against opposing teams' top lines. That said, I think he has performed amicably considering that assignment. He's not a top pairing D, and I think he'd play better playing against weaker player (other teams' 3rd and 4th line guys). However, he's done pretty solid work, and ironically, it's been more of Rielly playing bad D and giving up pucks, which may indirectly mask some of Ceci's less obvious errors or defensive laps. It will be interesting to see if the return of Dermott can alleviate some of this pressure, once he returns.

When Miki is on the ice he definitely exhibits a 'will to win' and asserts himself as a visible threat to be reckoned with - as is case with Marchand, Backstrom, MacKinnon, Eichel to name but a few. Todate, only Moore & Kapanen have demonstrated similar glimmers of capacity. For all the hype surrounding the 'superior skill levels' of Matty/Mitch/Willy, imo none of them have as yet asserted themselves as 'dominant forces' to be reckoned with. While too early to jump to conclusions, at this juncture, it promises to be a long season - heavily reliant upon the reliability (continued good health) of Freddy.

It's tough to predict Miki's salary next year, but if the trend continues, and given that contract negotiation is not Dubas' strong suit, I can't see him being signed below the Kapanen or Johnsson contracts. We'll have to unload one of our wingers at some point, and it will be interesting to see which one.

Agree re: Kapanen. The way he reacted to early season adversity these past few games is admirable.

Ceci has unfortunately become the Gardiner of years past already, i.e. the team's scapegoat who's actually playing well. That he leads the team in +/- doesn't surprise me. At one point Ceci messed up a zone exit tonight against the Sharks, but he returned to the other side and cut a passing lane to end the threat, repairing his mistake. Not something Sportsnet announcers would ever emphasize. But it's the attitude I like to see in our D: being aware of their errors, and taking responsibility for them. Gravel did a similar mistake before saving a goal in an open net on the same sequence tonight.