Analyzing the Toronto Marlies’ first quarter of the season
By Austin Owens
Talented blueline leading the way
As you can tell, a lot of the focus on the back end of the Marlies is centred around 2017 17th overall pick Timothy Liljegren, and how his first season of pro hockey in North America would pan out.
From all accounts, the transition has gone smoothly up to now. Liljegren didn’t take long to get his first AHL goal out of the way, scoring a power-play goal in only his second game.
Liljegren has six points in 12 games this season. He missed six games with an upper-body injury but returned on Nov. 22 to grab an assist against Utica.
For the majority of the season, Liljegren has been alongside Travis Dermott on the Marlies first defensive pairing.
Dermott was believed to be in the discussion to make the Maple Leafs opening night roster out of training camp. The 2015 second-rounder was eventually beat out for the final spot on the Buds blueline but another year in the AHL will do nothing but help him in the long run.
So far this season, Dermott has tied his defensive partner in points with six in 19 games. He has yet to score a goal but has fit nicely alongside Liljegren to form a solid tandem for the Marlies.
Dermott leads the Marlies in penalty minutes but has also drawn the most penalties on the team according to Keefe.
Other than the top pair, there has been a lot of different faces in the Marlies lineup on a game-to-game basis. Calle Rosen, who was sent down by the Leafs, has played in 13 games in the AHL this season.
Rosen has seven points and is also without a goal. His last point came in the Marlies last game where he had a point shot deflected off Chris Mueller‘s skate and in.
He is tied for second in scoring among defencemen on the Marlies this year with Martin Marincin and Andrew Nielsen.
Marincin was another cut by the Leafs, the Slovakian blueliner cleared waivers in October. Marincin has shown glimpses of good offensive intangibles, including a goal against Albany where he deked out the goaltender and tucked it home.
Nielsen has appeared in 17 games this season but has not had as much of an offensive impact as he did last season. He finished fourth in defensive rookie scoring with 14 goals and 39 points in 74 games. Nielsen hasn’t scored yet and has only managed seven assists. If he can up his production going forward, he will be a great piece for the Marlies down the stretch.
Lastly, the Marlies top scoring defenceman: Justin Holl. After signing a one-year extension with the Maple Leafs in the offseason, Holl has started strong with the Marlies.
He has nine points in 18 games and has scored three goals on the year. Two of them came in the same game against the Utica Comets.
For a player that the Marlies signed to an AHL contract in 2015, Holl has provided great value for them over his time in Toronto. Expect him to remain atop the scoring for defencemen on the team.
The Marlies feature a good mix of offensive-minded defenders and shutdown guys. They are even deeper than last season on the back-end and should be just fine going forward.