In this edition of Toronto Maple Leafs Quick Hits, I’ll take a look at two new players on the Maple Leafs’ roster – young goalie Dylan Ferguson and 31-year-old Calle Jarnkrok. I’ll also spend some time disputing an accusation thrown at the team from fans who seem to have lost a sense of the history of the Maple Leafs.
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Quick Hit One: Dylan Ferguson Looked Good in Goal (Surprised?)
Of the little-known players in the Maple Leafs’ doubleheader yesterday, I was really interested in watching young goalie Dylan Ferguson. That’s because he’s from nearby Lantzville, British Columbia, which is an hour down the highway from where I live on Vancouver Island. Ferguson looked great on Saturday, and stopped all nine shots put on his net.
At first, when Ferguson was signed by general manager Kyle Dubas, he was thought to be goalie fodder for the team’s training camp. But he far more than exceeded expectations and looked much stronger than Keith Petruzzelli did in the team’s second game.
Will Ferguson be offered an AHL contract out of training camp? If so, with Joseph Woll’s injury rehab, that might make him suddenly jump into the fourth place position in the organization’s depth chart.
As The Hockey Writers commenter gcmgome noted, “Ferguson is a technically-sound goaltender (impressively so), who I think will turn a few heads this season. He just needs game reps, Covid having curtailed the earlier years of his pro career.”
gcmgome noted that, “as of what we know today, Ferguson looks like found money.” Given that he’s almost a hometown goalie, I happily agree.
Related: THE GOOD & BAD NEWS ABOUT LILJEGREN’S BEING SIDELINED FOR SIX WEEKS
Quick Hit Two: So You Know My Belief, the Maple Leafs Are Far From a Mess
In the conversation section of a recent post, one commenter pointed a finger at Maple Leafs’ writers like myself when he accused us with this question: “When was the last time a writer penned a seriously critical article that said the Leafs are soft, too small, atrociously over-paid the core handcuffing cap mgt, left the draft cupboard bare, failed to develop prospects into NHLers? NEVER! ….all 3 (I think he means Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas, and Sheldon Keefe) should be fired, long ago.”
I read such comments every day I write a post. And, to answer the question, it’s tough to write something you don’t believe. I just don’t believe the Maple Leafs are a mess. In fact, they are far from it.
My regular co-writer Stan Smith made this note to the commenter. “This team has more points since Dubas took over as the GM than any other GM has had in a four-year stretch let alone four from the start of his tenure. Dubas is already 3rd for wins by a Leafs GM since the NHL expanded in 1967. He is first in winning %. And despite not winning a single playoff round he is 5th in postseason wins by a Leafs’ GM with 11.”
Stan went on to note that Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe “owns the record for the best record for a Leafs’ coach in his first three seasons on the job. Shanahan hired them both. As fans, we aren’t used to that. Let’s fire them all so we can go back to not even worrying about playoffs and get started on our golf games earlier.”
Quick Hit Three: Now What with Calle Jarnkrok?
What does anyone make of Calle Jarnkrok’s two identical goals in the second game of the team’s doubleheader? It was obvious that linemate Auston Matthews liked what he saw. The following tweet shows it all.
It would be easy to question whether this sort of on-ice play is a one-off or simply lucky. But we’re talking about an NHL veteran of almost 600 regular-season games under his belt. Fine when you ask about Denis Malgin or even Adam Gaudette, and that’s no derision to their skills. But Jarnkrok isn’t a new kid on the block – just a new kid on the Maple Leafs’ block. I expect more of this from him.
So, might this mean that we could see Marner moved with John Tavares’ line? At least there’s potential that Jarnkrok makes such a move possible. Would the other beneficiary of this matchup be Adam Gaudette? It would seem that the coaching staff sees him as a top-six player.
So far, Jarnkrok looks great in a blue and white uniform.
Related: Four Takeaways from Maple Leafs Double-Header vs. Senators
Afp1961
September 26, 2022 at 7:21 am
Jim and Stan – very early days to already be reading things into try camp lineups. Agree Jankrok was expected to be a middle six player. They did not sign him to a four year contract for nothing. He was impressive in game 1. Nit sure that translates into bumping marner off the top line however. I can actually see Jankrok going onto Tavares LW2 role. He is better than kerfoot and more multi dimensional.
Old Prof
September 26, 2022 at 7:49 am
In fact, and I think you are right, I think Keefe noted that he wouldn’t split up Matthews and Marner – so you thought seems more to the point – the thing for me was that he (Jarnkrok) was dissed so much by fans that his status seeme assured at line three – but he’s smart enough to add to either line – middle six seems right – thanks again – Jim
gcmgome
September 26, 2022 at 8:20 am
It seemed that everyone had placed Nick Robertson in the 2nd line left wing slot and Calle Jarnkrok in the 3rd line right wing slot. As you know, I have commented many times that I do not agree. I speculated that Jarnkrok was brought in to add a defensive responsibility element to the 2nd line, while Robertson will not even make the team this year.
With a track record of predictions that sometimes are so comically wrong, I will resist the temptation to gloat but how are these predictions looking today versus a month ago?
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Old Prof
September 26, 2022 at 2:51 pm
You might be very right about Jarnkrok – I hope Robertson turns out to be a good player.
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