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Marlies & Growlers 2019-2020

herman

herman

Well-known member
Let's kick things off for the Marlies thread with The Athletic's Q&A with head coach Sheldon Keefe.

When there?s the amount of turnover in the Leafs roster as there was this summer, many of the players the Leafs signed are bound to be sent to the Marlies. What are the steps you take to bring them on board?

Last year we had a lot of continuity in the leadership. I think it?s important to have great leadership at the AHL level, without a doubt. But I also think with your young prospects, if the leadership doesn?t change, the young players will really struggle to take a step. No matter what, they?re going to be the younger guy to the more established player. But when there?s a leadership change though, it?s a great opportunity. Anyone who ends up coming down who?s played for us for a year or two, now all of a sudden they?re the most tenured people. The young people are going to have a bigger voice. I think that?s a really important piece in their development.

Why is it important to empower players sooner?

We ask a lot of our players. We ask a lot of their time and the standard we want them to bring every day. We?re trying to make them NHL players. We think that takes a lot of work and time. Sometimes what they think they need to do and what we think they need to do are two different things. So the more that we can involve them in that process and making them understand more of what we?re doing, why there?s an extra workout, why they?re not playing a game but we?re asking them to work with a strength coach instead. They need to know why we?re doing that. They can?t look at it as a punishment. It has to be part of the process. Over time, as they?re established and more important players to your team, you want them to be involved in the decision making, when we travel, when the days off are.
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And this is what everyone's really interested in:
Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren are two players that Leafs fans will keep their eyes on all season. Without lumping them together, what?s something you?ve learned about them?

When it comes to Sandin, he?s a guy that came in at 18 years old and really thrived right from the start. It?s appropriate, the hype that he?s gotten and the impact he was able to make at 18 years old, to play upwards of 30 minutes a night sometimes for us. We thought he showed signs of wearing down for us a bit at the end of the season but his play allowed us a chance to get there.

Liljegren, he?s been here a year, he was drafted higher so there?s a lot more attention put on him. I?m glad you said you didn?t want to lump them together because they?re two different players, two different drafts, completely different circumstances. The thing that happened with Liljegren, and it happened towards the second half of last season that was really cool for us, he really found his way defensively. He was billed as a high-octane offensive defenceman. And while I certainly think he has those abilities and we?re going to continue to work at that, the nice thing that?s happened is that now he has a foundation on his defensive play that he became one of, if not our most reliable defensive players last year. He played against other team?s best lines and on the penalty kill. That made him a really trusted player down the stretch. And ironically, the area we need him to take continued strides in is his offensive game. He?s evolving and trying to figure out what type of player he can be in the NHL. That?s taken some time.
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He was asked about the possibility of coaching in the big league:

So do you find yourself dreaming a bit about coaching in the NHL when your friends ask you about it?
I want to coach in the NHL. That?s what I?m preparing for. But never for a second have I ever thought it was going to be here. I?ve learned a great deal from Mike Babcock and his coaching staff, both the new coaching staff and D.J. Smith and Jim Hiller previously. I take great pride and I recognize the responsibility I have to help them to have good players and constantly have players that are going to push to take spots on your team.
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Initial round of waiver-eligible loans cleared, so welcome Avery, Gaudet, Schmaltz, Harpur to the Marlies. Woll is also joining the Marlies for the first time.
 
herman said:
Initial round of waiver-eligible loans cleared, so welcome Avery, Gaudet, Schmaltz, Harpur to the Marlies. Woll is also joining the Marlies for the first time.
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Why didn't the Canucks claim Harpur?
 
https://twitter.com/Kyle_Cush/status/1178672593169244163

Brazeau, Duszak, and Hollowell getting sent straight to the ECHL already. Hopefully their strong play down there can force a call-up later on, but right now the Marlies just had too many players.
 
Bullfrog said:
How do contracts with the ECHL work? Do players sign one or two-way AHL/ECHL contracts?
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Hollowell and Duszak have NHL deals, so they'll receive their two-way salary whether they're in the AHL or ECHL. It doesn't go down another notch in the ECHL though.

Brazeau only has an AHL contract, which could be a one-way or two-way deal. We really don't get any details about those though. He could potentially be earning less coin in the ECHL though.
 
Stacking all these NHL type guys on the Marlies allows the Leafs to call up a depth forward if need be near seasons end as opposed to making some "2nd round pick for 4th line center" type trade that we've been so fond of doing in the past.
 
I was going to try to catch some Marlies games this year, but now I probably won't until Hollowell, Conrad, Duszak, and Brazeau are back up.
 
herman said:
I was going to try to catch some Marlies games this year, but now I probably won't until Hollowell, Conrad, Duszak, and Brazeau are back up.
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Disappointing to say the least, however perhaps they will play max minutes on the Growlers. Perhaps this was why they started the ECHL in the first place, to actually develop prospects with real potential, not just long shots.
 
Highlander said:
herman said:
I was going to try to catch some Marlies games this year, but now I probably won't until Hollowell, Conrad, Duszak, and Brazeau are back up.
Click to expand...
Disappointing to say the least, however perhaps they will play max minutes on the Growlers. Perhaps this was why they started the ECHL in the first place, to actually develop prospects with real potential, not just long shots.
Click to expand...

Have to wonder if putting a guy like Duszak or Conrad in the ECHL has negative impacts on signing future college free-agents.  I'm sure there are many benefits to signing with the Maple Leafs org. (player development seems to be of the highest standard) but having the chance of being shipped to NFLD probably isn't a big seller.

And I'm not knocking the ROCK.  I loved it there when I visited but the perception of going there is probably not that strong, especially among american college free-agents.
 
Coco-puffs said:
Highlander said:
herman said:
I was going to try to catch some Marlies games this year, but now I probably won't until Hollowell, Conrad, Duszak, and Brazeau are back up.
Click to expand...
Disappointing to say the least, however perhaps they will play max minutes on the Growlers. Perhaps this was why they started the ECHL in the first place, to actually develop prospects with real potential, not just long shots.
Click to expand...

Have to wonder if putting a guy like Duszak or Conrad in the ECHL has negative impacts on signing future college free-agents.  I'm sure there are many benefits to signing with the Maple Leafs org. (player development seems to be of the highest standard) but having the chance of being shipped to NFLD probably isn't a big seller.

And I'm not knocking the ROCK.  I loved it there when I visited but the perception of going there is probably not that strong, especially among american college free-agents.
Click to expand...

A couple shots of screech and they'll be on board.
 
I don?t think it?s a permanent thing. I?m guessing they?re going to try to get some of the vets with potential but no Leafs prospects out to other NHL opportunities (a la Leivo) and get some more picks or AHL projects back.
 
Coco-puffs said:
Have to wonder if putting a guy like Duszak or Conrad in the ECHL has negative impacts on signing future college free-agents.  I'm sure there are many benefits to signing with the Maple Leafs org. (player development seems to be of the highest standard) but having the chance of being shipped to NFLD probably isn't a big seller.

And I'm not knocking the ROCK.  I loved it there when I visited but the perception of going there is probably not that strong, especially among american college free-agents.
Click to expand...

I think it's totally understandable for fans to overhype their prospects a little, but we should probably keep in mind neither of those two were really considered in the top tier of NCAA free agents. SBNation had an article that ranked the top-10 college free agents and had an additional 24 names in their honourable mentions section and Duszak and Conrad weren't mentioned.

Maybe they were just oversights, and we obviously shouldn't be considering that as a definitive ranking, but these aren't the kinds of NCAA prospects that were going to walk in and challenge for a NHL spot anytime soon.
 
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