Blue And White Beat: Mitchell was the odd man out
Brian Burke made all his big moves prior to Monday’s trade deadline.
With the preceding days seeing Tomas Kaberle, Francois Beauchemin, and Kris Versteeg moved for Joffrey Lupul, draft picks and prospects, the day itself was rather anti-climactic for Toronto.
The lone Leafs transaction was the departure of forward John Mitchell to the NY Rangers in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in 2012. Mitchell was immediately assigned to the Connecticut Whale, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate.
The move ends a three-year period of underachievement for the 26-year-old native of Oakville, Ontario. While injuries limited Mitchell’s season this year to just 23 games, he found the back of the net just twice, and was deemed expendable – being place on waivers in the second week of February.
“I didn’t speak with Burkie or Ron (Wilson) at all before I left,” said Mitchell. “I just talked with Dave Nonis. They were trying to make trades, and guys were coming off injured reserve and stuff like that. It was just one of those things. It’s tough coming back from a knee injury. You never want to do that and I’ve had to do it two years in a row.”
Despite his best efforts, Mitchell never found his groove in Toronto with the big club, being passed on the depth chart by fellow AHL Marlies teammates Darryl Boyce and Joey Crabb.
Without a doubt, his biggest success within the tenure of the Leafs organization came during the 2008 Calder Cup playoffs when the Marlies made a surprising run all the way to the AHL final four. Mitchell led all Marlies scorers with 8 goals in 19 games.
However the success at Ricoh Coliseum never found its way to Air Canada Centre. Mitchell tallied just 20 times in 159 games in a Leafs uniform.
Often, it was a case of Mitchell unable to hit the net with his otherwise powerful shot.
Other times, it simply appeared that he didn’t have the extra drive.
“He’s got to dominate here,” observed Marlies coach Dallas Eakins, after Mitchell scored his only goal of the current AHL season on February 18 against Hamilton. “I think he’s still trying to find his way a little bit. He’s got to lead in so many different areas of the ice. I’m not sure if he’s been fully committed to it yet.
“I know he’s trying. But sometimes it’s tough when you come from the NHL to the American League. The pace is different, and players are in different spots on the ice. But I think he’s trying to find his way.”
For the former Leafs 2003 fifth-round draft pick, the way is now in the Rangers organization.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
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