WIN IN THE ’PEG
Ennis, Kadri come through as Leafs down Jets,
Par Lindholm is proving to be the solution to a problem the Maple Leafs didn’t think they had.
Lindholm is a centre, playing wing, usually Nazem Kadri’s left wing. That most certainly was not the idea when the Leafs signed the star from the Swedish Hockey League. He was supposed to be their fourth-line centre.
But a lack of production from the wing — the guys who are supposed to do the scoring — shows the once-heralded depth at that position looks rather shallow these days, largely because of the absence of William Nylander.
Kasperi Kapanen and Mitch Marner each had four goals in the first nine games heading into Wednesday night’s game in Winnipeg. No problems there.
But the rest of the wingers combined for four: one each from Patrick Marleau, Josh Leivo, Connor Brown and Lindholm, and none from Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson or Tyler Ennis. To put that in perspective, stay-at-home defenceman Ron Hainsey has two goals.
So Lindholm has been thrust into a position he’s never played in a league he’s never played in for a team that’s supposed to score a lot.
“I’ve been a centre pretty much all my life, but I think I’ve gotten used to it pretty fast,” Lindholm said prior to the Leafs leaving for Winnipeg.
“There are more battles as a centremen. Every shift you battle with people, especially in the defensive zone. As a winger you can go a shift without touching the puck so much. “I feel comfortable with it.” Leafs coach Mike Babcock has used Frederik Gauthier as the fourth-line centre, putting Lindholm with Kadri and Brown in an attempt to spur offence from lines other than those centred by Auston Matthews and John Tavares.
“He’s a real good player, he’s intelligent, he makes lots of plays on his backhand, he’s going to turn into a real good NHL player,” said Babcock.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way; the Leafs had in mind that they’d have their own Swedish star — Nylander — under contract by now. And if not him, another rising Swede — Johnsson (one assist) — would surely have taken off given what he did for the Marlies and Leafs last season. And if not him, the signing of Ennis (one assist) as an unrestricted free agent would certainly be paying dividends by now.
For a team that at one point looked like it was filled with rising talent, the cupboard — at wing, anyway — seems bare.
There are prospects up front with the Marlies, just none that seem ready to jump into the NHL and make an impact. American Trevor Moore is off to the fastest start with the Marlies with six goals in eight games, and caught the eye of Babcock in training camp. Carl Grundstrom — also Swedish — had a disappointing camp, though he is producing with seven points in six games. Pierre Engvall — yes, another Swede —probably needs a full season in the AHL. Two big scorers in junior: American Jeremy Bracco and yet another Swede, Dmytro Timashov, might need more seasoning.
Still, there’s no sense of panic with the Maple Leafs, who will likely make do with their set of forwards until Nylander gets back or someone gets injured.
So Lindholm will continue to make the adjustments — from centre to wing, from big ice to small, from small-town Europe to big-city Canada — he needs to.
“Moving from the big ice to the smaller ice feels good so far,” said Lindholm. “In the beginning, it was hard to figure out a way to make space for yourself. I don’t think I’m there yet. But I’m getting there. And getting more comfortable every day.”
Same goes for living in Toronto.
“I come from a pretty small town in Sweden. Toronto is a nice place to live and the teammates are all great. I don’t have anything to complain about. It’s been perfect from the day I got here.”