Opportunity comes knocking for Leafs’ Panik, call- ups
Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli are gone and others could be on their way out before the March 2 trade deadline. But the Toronto Maple Leafs still have to finish out the season and ice a full roster.
That means players like defenceman Petter Granberg and forwards Richard Panik and Brandon Kozun should get ample opportunity for more ice time to prove they deserve bigger roles in the organization. A full- scale rebuild could be starting soon, so it’s up to those players and others to show they belong.
“Everyone wants to play in the NHL,” Kozun said Tuesday as the Leafs prepared to host the Florida Panthers. “That’s the reason we play hockey is we’ve dreamed of it since ( we were) kids. That’s something I’ve strived for my whole entire life and I’m going to try and work as hard as I can to play here.”
Panik stands to benefit the most as he’s expected to be playing alongside Nazem Kadri. The early- season waiver- wire pickup from the Tampa Bay Lightning was already getting more minutes under interim coach Peter Horachek and now can showcase himself even further.
“It’s a different feeling when you play 14, 15 minutes average than when you play like five minutes, and when you get some time on the ( power play) as well,” Panik said. “It really builds your confidence. I feel really confident now.”
Horachek has noticed t he 24- year- old winger’s development and maturity continuing to improve. A restricted free agent after this season, Panik could develop into a top- six forward on a team that’s bound to get younger.
The Leafs are already younger on defence with the 22- year- old Granberg up from the AHL’s To- ronto Marlies. Along with offensive lefty Morgan Rielly, the defensive righty could be a building block of Toronto’s blue- line.
One thing ’s for sure: Granberg is not Franson, a power play mainstay who was among the league’s topscoring defencemen. But he wants to be aggressive and hard to play against, not pretend to be something he’s not.
“That’s a little bit of a challenge when you’re looking at the offensive side: It’s hard to replace Cody in that situation,” Horachek said.