When he was in Detroit, Mike Babcock didn’t mind the two-hour drive to Grand Rapids to check on the steady stream of future prospects developing with the Red Wings farm team.

Here with the Leafs, it’s much easier to keep tabs, of course, especially given the lengthy home stands both of the big team and the AHL affiliate are enjoying right now.

The Leafs have tapped into the Marlies plenty already this season, largely out of necessity due to a rash of injuries. There’s more to come of course, all part of the development plan in place this season and the expected changes post NHL trade deadline.

The tantalizing offensive prospects are mostly on the farm for now, however, many of them begging for a cameo with the big team before the season is done.

Babcock often references that he pays close attention to Sheldon Keefe’s team, either watching the games on television or in person at the Ricoh Coliseum.

And in his latest first-hand look — Friday’s 4-2 win over the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins — the young talent the club hopes will develop into bonafide big-league material caught his eye. So when asked on Saturday when Leafs fans might get a taste of bigger-name Marlies — and for how long — Babcock had an interesting response.

“For me to speculate on that … all I know is that they have a ton of skill down there,” said Babcock, who joined the rest of the Leafs brass in the team box Friday at Ricoh.

"They have the puck all the time. I saw more plays in four shifts (with the Marlies) than I saw in a week here (with the Leafs.)"

The latter comment isn’t so much an indictment of the injury-ripped roster he has to deal with every night, though it may have sounded like it. But it is telling that the high-end skill impresses Babcock as a glimpse into his team’s future, even if it happens against minor leaguers

On Friday, it was Brendan Leipsic with a picture-perfect feed to Connor Brown for a big goal in the comeback win. Ditto William Nylander, with a quick snipe that was part of the same rally.

If Babcock was watching Saturday, it was Leipsic with a pair of goals, exactly a week after he scored one in his NHL debut in Vancouver. It’s all encouraging stuff, of course, though the Leafs coach is publicly cautious in his expectations.

“I’ve seen the team play a number of times,” Babcock said of the Marlies. “Until you get them on the ice and until you see them every day in the National Hockey League with the speed and the tempo of the game, you don’t know 100% for sure.

“Some guys are better than you think and some guys aren’t as good as you think. They’re high octane. They do things at that level. Now this is a whole different level and we’ve seen guys come with these projections over the years and you’ve got to do it here.”

Time will tell how it unfolds, of course, but it will be interesting to see how Leafs management uses its call ups following the trade deadline.

If the team expects Nylander to be with the Leafs next season, for example — and why not? — it would make some sense for him to get a glimpse of that speed and skill Babcock talks about at the NHL level.

Ditto for Brown, another look at Leipsic and perhaps even Kasperi Kapanen, all the while balancing the objective of setting the Marlies up for a deep run in the AHL playoffs.

Marlies coach Keefe says the carrot of getting promoted is a strong motivator of his players. And those on the Leafs roster know what’s coming as well.

“(The Marlies) have a lot of good players and you can see how hard they are working to get up to this level,” Leafs defenceman Frankie Corrado said. “That’s very encouraging as a team.”

Babcock has far more pressing concerns than the Marlies, other than to monitor their development. Of greater significance is how the Leafs stay focussed over the final 25 games.

“If you look at our team, there’s a whole ton of guys on one-year contracts,” Babcock said. “There’s a whole bunch of guys that want contracts that plan on being here, there’s a whole bunch of guys that I assume want to play on the team.

“The best way to look after yourself is to do it right each and every day.

You’re telling everybody every day who you are and you’re not just telling the Leafs, you’re telling 29 other teams in the League. To me it’s really straightforward.”

40 WINS AND COUNTING

The Marlies got a taste of the big rink Saturday afternoon and responded in style with a 3-1 win over the Portland Pirates.

And in the process, they became the first team in the AHL to hit the 40-mark this season, matching their win total from a year ago.

Brendan Leipsic, who scored his first NHL goal a week ago in Vancouver when called up for the Leafs, had a pair against the Pirates including the game winner. Garret Sparks, who had a successful stint with the Leafs earlier in the season, stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced for the win.