Toronto Marlies sign Martins Dzierkals to AHL Deal
By Austin Owens
After spending two seasons in the QMJHL, Toronto Maple Leafs 2015 third round pick Martins Dzierkals looks ready to make the jump to the pro game with the Toronto Marlies.
The already crowded crop of forwards for the Toronto Marlies will have another body contending for a roster spot come October.
The Marlies have signed Latvian forward Martins Dzierkals to a one-year AHL contract.
Dzierkals was a third round pick of the Leafs, 68th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft. In his draft year, he played for HK Riga, the farm club of Dynamo Riga in the KHL.
The Latvian made the jump to North America early, joining the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in 2015-16, where he finished third in team scoring with 67 points in 59 games. The Huskies won the President’s trophy with 113 points in the regular season, it was also their best finish in franchise history.
His production took a dip this season on a Huskies squad that finished second overall in the Q this season. Dzierkals was still a point per game player, but only had 49 points in 47 games.
Dzierkals has represented Latvia on multiple occasions throughout his career. His latest appearance came during the 2017 World Juniors. The winger had three points over six games. He did suffer a left ankle injury prior to the tournament and was not fully healthy prior so that also had an impact on his performance.
After Dzierkals was drafted, Leafs Assistant General Manager Kyle Dubas had nothing but good things to day about him.
"“We saw him at the U18 tournament. Statistically, he was outstanding in the games that I personally saw. He was a guy that [scouts] Thommie Bergman and Garth Malarchuk both really liked a lot. We all went and watched him in the relegation games, and he was really, really good.He’s very fast – a skilled player. His family is very big, so he looks like a guy who’s going to grow a little bit and get a lot stronger.Statistically, in Latvia, and it’s not a traditional market to be taking a lot of guys from – but his production level in the junior league there was off-the-charts. It just kind of all added together. We knew there were a lot of other teams circling, so we had to pick him there.”"
Where will he slot into the Marlies lineup?
There are a lot of intriguing options for Dzierkals. With the arrivals of both Jeremy Bracco and Adam Brooks, there is going to be a lot of competition at forward. An exciting thought could be to play the first year player with another European player in Carl Grundstrom.
Both players have that jump to their game that would make them a great third line that could cause havok for opposing defenders.
If you put those two players with a dependable player like Colin Greening and the third line could be depended on in any situation. He could be moved up to play with the better scorers of the team or dropped down to play an energy role. It depends on what Sheldon Keefe thinks of the youngster.
Regardless of where he slots into the lineup, Dzierkals will be fun to watch with the Marlies over the next year.