Leafs' Injury Issues Urge Brad Treliving Into a Move He Was Reluctant to Make
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Toronto is dealing with a lot of injuries currently and Leafs GM Brad Treliving called up prospect Fraser Minten to help, but it wasn't just because of his talent.
Injuries have plagued the Maple Leafs since before the season even started. Calle Jarnkrok was hurt and is going to be out for months after groin and hernia surgery.
Auston Matthews has been out two weeks, Max Pacioretty is out for the foreseeable future, Max Domi is banged up, and now David Kampf has landed himself on the IR.
Toronto called upon Fraser Minten to take Kampf's spot and hopefully inject some life into the Maple Leafs lineup. He's been tearing it up for the Marlies, but his call-up isn't just due to his play.
Brad Treliving's Last Resort
If Brad Treliving wanted to hide the fact he didn't want Minten to be called upon, he did a very poor job. Minten is undoubtedly a big part of their future, but after also suffering an injury and returning only a week or so ago; is it too soon?
Treliving thinks so:
"To be perfectly honest, I would have preferred to leave him down there for a little bit longer, just to stabilize. You got to be careful, especially with young guys, bumping them up and down. He's coming off the injury, but he's having a great start."
It's understandable that Treliving wanted to keep Minten down in the AHL for a bit more conditioning, and wasn't dismissive of him joining the club down the road.
But his hands are tied. He doesn't have any other options, and Minten is his last resort whether he likes it or not.
Alex Nylander needs an NHL contract to play, Logan Shaw is the backbone of the entire Marlies, Nikita Grebenkin could garner a look but Treliving wants to do with him what he wanted with Minten.
Beyond that, Toronto doesn't have many NHL-caliber players, and none of their top prospects are ready like Minten, who already has NHL experience albeit only 4 games.
It's a long way away for names like Easton Cowan or Jacob Quillan to make an impact and they need some more seasoning, although Cowan has been destroying the OHL this season.
There's obvious concern that Minten could re-aggravate his injury, especially against the bigger and nastier NHL-level talent, but he has to play sometime, and what better than when your roster is missing a large chunk of players?
It's his time to shine and make himself a part of the lineup so when names like Kampf and Ryan Reaves return, they will find themselves having a much harder time fitting back in.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 19 | 473 ANSWERS Leafs' Injury Issues Urge Brad Treliving Into a Move He Was Reluctant to Make Should Toronto have called up Fraser Minten? | ||
| Yes it's his time! | 421 | 89 % |
| No, he wasn't ready yet! | 52 | 11 % |
| List of polls | ||
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