There are bigger things in the world to worry about, of course, than whether a hockey player gets paid, or how a minor-leaguer is developing. The deadly spread of the novel coronavirus has brought just about everything to a standstill as the world tries to “flatten the curve” of the rate of infection by shutting down mass gatherings for as long as 60 days.

And while the NHL seems hopeful of a return to action in mid-May, there is no telling what the shutdown will have done to players at the lower levels, whose seasons may be over.

The ECHL season has been cancelled. The AHL is officially “paused” like the NHL but if hockey’s top minor league cut the cord on the season, it would surprise no one. The goal, from a developmental standpoint, still is to play as much hockey as possible.

“The more repetitions that a young player can have, the better,” said Laurence Gilman, the assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs who oversees the Marlies of the AHL and the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL. “The ultimate example of that is playing playoff games.”

The progress of Timothy Liljegren, who played in his first NHL games this season, is the example Gilman turns to. Liljegren was part of the Marlies’ 2018 Calder Cup championship as a rookie and played a much bigger role with the team last year when it went to the Eastern Conference final.

“He had played seven playoff rounds in two years. It is very difficult to replicate that,” Gilman said. “That is the best type of development any young hockey player can have.”

The Leafs remain hopeful the Marlies could resume. For now, they’re being treated exactly the same as their NHL brethren.

“The Marlies are going through the exact same protocol and receiving the exact same treatment … afforded to our NHL players,” Gilman said. “They are receiving the same up-to-the-minute information that our organization has. They’re in regular communication daily with members of our staff, including me.

“They are … to self-isolate, self-quarantine. That being said, they have been given specifically designed workout regimes that they can conduct at their home to keep them in shape. We are providing meals for players that are being delivered to them in a safe and healthy manner. And, like the rest of us, they are waiting for this pandemic to hopefully subside.”

The Growlers aren’t so lucky. The defending ECHL champions looked like they were going to go for another long playoff run in their second year in the league. That would have benefited Justin Brazeau, perhaps the Leafs’ top prospect with the Growlers. The 22-year-old had 27 goals and 28 assists in 57 games in his rookie pro season.

The former OHL scoring champion — Brazeau led the OHL with 61 goals in 2018-19 — had made great strides in improving his skating.

“He’s worked incredibly hard on it over the course of the season,” Gilman said. “And while he’ll be able to, at some point, get back on the ice, time is being lost, because he’s self-isolating and there isn’t ice available, he’s not going to a public rink. That’s problematic.

“Now, I don’t think it’s going to permanently impact his development. But it’s a pretty good example that a player like this can’t work on this specific skill set and improve it. It’s just lost time. He’s lost time at a formidable age of his hockey career.”

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AHL players are being paid, as are ECHL players with AHL contracts. But ECHL players saw their pay end on the weekend. They will not be paid for the final three weeks of the season, or playoffs, per a deal reached between the league and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association.

“There is nothing that the ownership can do because to do so would be a circumvention of the ECHL salary cap,” Gilman said.