Feb 14, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Josh Leivo (32) celebrates after scoring a goal as New York Islanders forward Josh Bailey (12) looks on during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Josh Leivo has had a fairly large battle trying to get into the Leafs lineup over the last four seasons.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have routinely neglected Leivo in favor of worse players over the last four years. Every time they do – and every time he ends up in the lineup – he makes them look foolish.

The problem for building a rock solid case for Leivo is because the Leafs have cast him aside so often. His sample size is extremely small for a four year spread (34 games), making it difficult to pin down his realistic value.

Prior to the season, Leivo received a contract that he deserved to get. A two year deal with an AAV of $612,500 for an underrated player is always a good buy for the team.

I wrote this on Leivo being qualified in the off-season:

“Leivo I can understand qualifying because his 12 game showing last year went very well. He was a good possession player who was, generally, better than his on-ice comrades when they were both apart. Essentially, he wasn’t being carried by anyone. I wouldn’t put too much weight into his five goals in those twelve games considering his very high shooting percentage will be tough (read: near impossible) to replicate.”

He’s still a good possession player, better than his linemates, not being carried and his shooting percentage has come back to earth.

Another season, another small batch of impressive games.

In his most recent stint since returning (a four game stretch) to the lineup, Leivo has a CF% at 5v5 of 64.3%. That number is even more impressive considering who he plays with routinely and his zone starts being 28% or less in three of the four games. The anomaly was a 42.9% offensive zone start outing.

For the bean counters, as the anti-stats folk say, he’s playing exceptionally well. For the eye-test fanatics, he’s also playing extremely well. See how they both match-up? Now imagine removing personal bias against Jake Gardiner and seeing what happens.

Sorry, getting back on track.

Levio’s 13 points in 34 career games pro-rates to 31 points over an 82 game span. A pretty good rookie season if it was played all in one year.

His defensive numbers are where they always were – on the good side of the spectrum – but it’s his underlying offensive numbers this year that are taking off. Again, extremely impressive considering his most common partners at 5v5 are Matt Martin and Ben Smith.

So what’s holding Leivo back from a full-time showing to get a better gauge on his talents for the long-term?

That’s the million dollar question, and one I don’t have an answer for. He’s better than Soshnikov and it’s not even really close, but Soshnikov has played 42 games – more than Leivo’s entire career.

He’s better than Matt Martin – the $2.5M thug who moonlights with real players up the lineup when Babcock throws his lines into a blender.

Those are the two regular fourth line players for the Leafs – neither of whom are better than the player they’ve neglected for four seasons.

That being said, to call him a sure-fire NHLer at this point (34 games) is just ignorant bias. He’s played well over all four of his showings, but he simply doesn’t have the experience to nail down a specific title. The former third round pick has a long way to go to solidify himself as a legitimate regular NHLer, so don’t call yourself a genius just yet for proclaiming him as such on Twitter.

Josh Leivo deserves to play out the rest of this season and the playoffs with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has earned that chance – and he’s earned the chance to prove that he does, or doesn’t, belong in the NHL for the rest of his career.