The rookie the Leafs left behind
Soshnikov will have to work his way back into team’s plans with the Marlies
Nikita Soshnikov looks like he’s the one who is going to be left behind.
The speedy Russian winger who can — when he’s at his best — score, hit and be a pest, is the one undertold story from the Maple Leafs’ 2016-17 season. The one rookie from an otherwise impressive class that didn’t make it. The one who is most likely going back to the Marlies.
“That’s what it looks like,” Soshnikov said. “It’s all right. Just have to work harder every day, stay positive and wait (my chance). I can have a good experience and play a lot.”
Soshnikov was taking his equipment off as he spoke, at his stall beside Ben Smith and across from Kasperi Kapanen. They are three players who, because of what they meant to the Leafs last season, sit in the main dressing room at the MasterCard Centre every day at training camp.
But the group they practise with dresses elsewhere.
And most of that group — Soshnikov, Smith and Kapanen included — will surely be sent to the Marlies by the time the Leafs’ opening-day roster is submitted to the league by Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Smith will require waivers. Kapanen and Soshnikov are caught up in a numbers game; the Leafs have too many forwards. Those two can be sent to the Marlies without waivers. The rest of the forwards on the bubble, like Josh Leivo, would likely be lost to the waiver wire.
“We’ve got to get ready for Oct. 4,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We’ve tried to make it as compet- itive as we possibly can. We let them know in advance where they stand.
“The way the league works, some guys go through waivers and some guys don’t need waivers. Sometimes that just makes it easier to make decisions while you figure out what you really need to do.”
Babcock said he would make no apologies or promises to those who will ultimately be cut.
“I’d say this is your lot in life. Lots of times when you send a guy down, he doesn’t hear a word you say. He’s mad he’s going down. A week later when you talk to him, you try to make it clear when you have a good attitude and you work hard every day, things turn out for you. When you don’t, things don’t go the way you want them to.
“The best players are going to play on the team. We might not always get it right in the short term, but we’ll get it right.”
Hobbled by injuries that included a concussion, Soshnikov did not have a breakout 2016-17 season like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Connor Brown, Zach Hyman or Nikita Zaitsev. And the native of Nizhny Tagil, Russia, is no longer talked about in as optimistic terms as Kapanen, Travis Dermott and Carl Grundstrom.
A highly touted youngster signed from the KHL in the spring of 2015, Soshnikov had five goals and four assists in 56 games last season, mostly while playing on the fourth line. He sounds far from bitter at how he was used.
“You see guys better than me,” said Soshnikov, now 23. “It’s a good team, lots of good guys, lots of high draft picks, lots of skilled players, very high competition. Sure I would have loved to have played more, but it is what it is.”
His last NHL game was March 20, against Boston, when a hit from Zdeno Chara led to a concussion. That kept him in Toronto, in a fog and unable to train, he revealed to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston earlier in the week.
Soshnikov said he’s all right now and the prospect of playing for the Marlies is OK with him.
“I’ve already touched bottom,” he said.
“It’s good for me to have a camp and forget about the concussion. “It’s going well for me because I’ve been injured for a long time. It’s good to have competition and games and get my confidence back. Whatever happens, I’ll stay positive.
“My goal is to get back to the NHL.”