Note: This Article is inaccurate at this point in time, but it gives you some sight into the early season Marlies.

Have you ever realized that there isn’t too much info about our Marlies? Aside from the score, and some transactions, we really don’t know much about them.

From one fan to another, here’s a preview for the reigning Calder Cup Champs

Standings

It’s not looking great for the Toronto Marlies. The Reigning Calder Cup Champs have gone 2-1-4, conceding 5 or more goals in 4 of their 5 losses.

Sitting last in their division and 2nd last in their conference, the Marlies have to make up a lot of space to get back to Calder Cup form.

Stats

The Good

Trevor Moore and Sam Gagner are tied with 11 others for 6th place in AHL scoring with 8 points. Moore is tied for 2nd in goals scored with 6 goals (tied with Zac Dalpe), and Gagner is tied for 4th with many other players, with 4 goals.

Moore is making it surprisingly difficult not to consider him for a spot on the Leafs next year. Hell, Moore might be a candidate to make the full-time leap soon this year, like his former teammates Andreas Johnsson, Kasperi Kapanen, and Travis Dermott. The undrafted 23 year old might look like a huge steal soon.

Sam Gagner is an awesome pickup by the Marlies, and even though we can’t recall him (NHL rights are still Vancouver’s), he’s a great guy for all our young future NHLers… and a hell of a player.

Calle Rosen is tied for 4th in AHL assists with 6 assists, tied with 7 other players.

Rosen is one of the more overlooked Leafs prospects, and will be an NHL calibre player, just maybe not with the Leafs.

Carl Grundstrom is tied for 3rd in AHL rookie scoring, with 7 points. Pierre Engvall is tied for 5th with 5 points.

Grundstrom is very likely to capture a roster spot sometime soon, and has potential to be the next Leafs call-up, as I said with Moore as well. Both of them being waiver exempt makes it more appealing, and with the shaky status of all of Josh Leivo, Freddy Gauthier, Tyler Ennis, and possibly even Andreas Johnsson, there’s a chance that one of them could temporarily fill in their spot

Engvall could definitely be a Leaf in two years, keep your eye on him.

The Marlies have tied to score the 2nd most goals in the league, so offense DEFINITELY isn’t the problem

The Bad

The Marlies have let in the 2nd most goals in the league.

Did I mention they’re last in the division?

Andrew Nielsen already has 12 PIM on the season

Nielsen needs to clean up his game if he wants to make the NHL. He has to leave the penalties to the tough guys and improve his back-end game

Jeremy Bracco only has 2 points in 7 games, which is disappointing considering he had a tear of a 2nd half last season.

Bracco definitely has potential to make it to the big leagues soon, so his slow start is disappointing.

Rich Clune hasn’t made an appearance, I don’t care about the logic behind that, it’s just wrong.

J.J. Piccinich has ZERO points in 5 games, which is a bit troubling.

The Ugly

Kasimir Kaskisuo, the Marlies expected starter this season has SLUMPED.

The 25 year old had a good season when he was loaned to the Chicago Wolves, but this season has stunk for him. He went 1-2 with a horrendous .860 SV% before going down with injury. Let’s hope he returns to form, or gets better when he recovers.

Age has DEFINITELY caught up to Jeff Glass. The mediocre AHL goalie was a heartwarming story for the Blackhawks last year, but that’s as far as it’ll go it seems. He’s gone 1-2-1 with a .875 SV%

Next 7 Games:

Toronto has 2 out of 7 games against the Laval Rockets, who are a mediocre team. They play against a sub-par team in the Syracuse Crunch before playing against the powerhouse Cleveland Monsters. They play 3 games against the Belleville Senators, a decent team.

Key points:

Offense needs to keep doing what it’s done best, score

Defense needs to find solid pairings, for now, the Marlies will have to rotate between many guys as it finds who fits.

GOALIES NEED TO NOT BE SUCK

No, seriously, the Marlies goaltending situation is miserable. Either someone stops slumping or it’s time for Lawrence Gilman to make some more moves.

Transactions:

Frankie Corrado signed by the Marlies (oh lord) Eamon McAdam loaned by the Leafs to the Marlies. Rasmus Sandin loaned by the Leafs to the Marlies.

Notes:

Eamon McAdam will serve as the Marlies backup, not long after serving time with the Leafs

Defence situation is still a bit iffy. With Frankie Corrado being signed, that makes 10 defensemen on the Marlies.

5 defensemen are locks for the Marlies. Top Prospect Timothy Liljegren, young defensemen Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman, Veteran Vincent Loverde and project Jordan Subban are all impossible if not hard to beat out.

Ryan Sproul and Kyle Cuminsky are fantastic defensemen, but they’re both on PTOs, and both qualify as veterans, meaning that they count against the Marlies veteran count, which makes their case even harder. Still, Sproul has scored in his only game, making it harder to let go of them.

Assuming those two are mostly out of the picture, that leaves 3 more defensemen.

Andrew Nielsen, Sam Jardine, and Rasmus Sandin.

Sandin is currently still injured, but once he recovers, that creates more questions (is he really playing in the AHL this season, or will he go to the SHL). For now, that leaves us with Nielsen and Jardine. That’s perfect, Nielsen could be slotted in as 6th D, while Sam Jardine (unfortunately) spends more time in the press box (in a situation I’ll explain in another post).

J.J. Piccinich is still having a bad season, his chances of being a Leaf is small, but he needs to turn this around if he wants to come close.

Pierre Engvall, Hudson Elynuik, Adam Brooks, and Rasmus Sandin are all nursing injuries.

That’s it for this one, check back soon for another report!