Zee
Well-known member
Yeah aside from Cowan and the goalies I know there aren't any potential big names, but hopefully 2-3 guys can turn into depth players on the cheap. Lord knows Leafs have been searching for that forever
2025-26 Marlies Thread
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
Yeah aside from Cowan and the goalies I know there aren't any potential big names, but hopefully 2-3 guys can turn into depth players on the cheap. Lord knows Leafs have been searching for that forever
What is a William Villeneuve? 23 points in 24 playoff games, RIGHT-HANDED defenseman.
There is a debate to be had that they let one get away in Steeves. Time will tell on that.
But there is one more something like him. He's 31 so chances are extremely slim to none.
But I thought he was the best skater on the team in the playoffs: Lettieri
I was focused on the dmen so I did not mean to check him out.
He's Lou Nanne's grandson - raised in Minnesota hockey => well trained.
He led the AHL in playoff scoring
.87 career ppg in the AHL regular season
He has close to a 93MPH slapshot (84th percentile) according to NHL edge
He used it for the Rochester series clincher and for the Calder Cup winning goal:
He's got good wheels - max nearly 23mph (85th percentile).
He clinched another playoff series with a goal like this playoff goal:
At the game, he got my attention.
He finishes his checks. He hits. Blocks shots. He has high hockey IQ according to scouting reports and my observations.
He's been receiving NHL minimum $775,000/yr to play in the AHL for about 5 years. Boston, Minnesota and Anaheim all thought highly enough of him to do that.
I spent some time looking at video of him.
And then I looked at how he was deployed in the NHL.
It did remind me some of what they did to McMann & Steeves: got his shot sticking him on a 4th line.
That always bugs me because these players play all season preparing in a top 6 role and suddenly, they're supposed to be bash brothers on the 4th line with a couple of pluggers. They don't get much of a chance to show what they have been preparing to do all season. Steeves was amazing with 10 hits/60 - tried very hard to be a chameleon.
Lettieri's history is too long to conclude that always happened to him. I wasn't going to watch it all. But I saw some evidence that that happened. At the same time, the Rangers, Ducks, Wild and Bruins - they all had him. Who am I to know better than their professional development people? Whatever. Lettieri impressed me.
Here's the thing that got me. I noticed he was finishing his checks in the d-zone, etc - that he was trying his best to defend. So Chicago is coming up the ice approaching the Marlies blue line. Lettieri positions himself right of center near the blueline. He looks around and sees a rookie dman (first time Villeneuve, second time Danford - he did this more than once) and he points his stick like a quarterback calling an audible to get the rookie dman to move up to tighten the gap towards the blue line. Rookie dman complies and they turn the puck over. So Lettieri is not all about putting up points and he's a leader helping his young dmen in the heat of playoff hockey. A guy like that is not going to be bad to develop young players with.
He's a UFA in a barren UFA market. He's a right shot - Leafs only have one of those. He wins 49.1% of his draws in the NHL - he can help at center - there are almost none among the UFAs and the Leafs only have 2 right now. I strongly hope they re-sign him for depth because if they have an injury in their top 9, this guy could help. Just don't stick him on the 4th line. Quite frankly, after the way he played for the Marlies in the playoffs, if he didn't earn it, aside from their goalie, who did?
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herman
Well-known member
Just a caveat, unless they have some otherworldly game processing skills to go with it (Mark Stone, Jason Allison, John Tavares), poor skating has limited many a skilled player’s career to max out at the AHL: TJ Brennan, Josh Ho Sang, etc.
This applies to William Villeneuve, Alex Nylander, Vinni Letierri.
This applies to William Villeneuve, Alex Nylander, Vinni Letierri.