John Mitchell was brilliant last season and one would think he will be in the starting lineup against the Canadiens in our season opener. The problem lies with the amount of players we have who are able to do his job. Unfortunately, he’s not a top six forward although he could become one as he develops. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind about his superb shot. The two goals against New York Rangers showed us how good his shot can be.
The acquisitions of bottom six personnel has somewhat ruined his chances of making the team especially with the trade bringing Primeau into the team. In normal circumstances I would still go with John Mitchell over Primeau but it fully depends on Ron Wilson and his willingness to drop a veteran forward like Wayne.
There are many other players within the Leafs cupboard that would love to get a shot in training camp to impress the coaches into giving them a spot. John Mitchell will certainly have to bring his game if he wants to even have a shot in making this team. It would be a gutsy move by Ron Wilson to plug Mitchell into the 2nd line but you never know he could exceed with the extra ice time like he did last year. It’s really hard to take players like Mitchell off the team because they work so hard and are determined to make their case heard. He’s a fantastic player in both aspects of the game and Ron Wilson will know all about that. A responsible forward in the defensive part of the game is crucial to any team.
There are people in the NHL that question his skating although I would disagree because he seemed to get better and better with his skating as the games progressed and he got more ice time. He’s a hard worker and he knows that skating is a part of his game that he will have to work on and don’t expect a half hearted effort from him either, he’ll surely have worked on it throughout the summer. I hope he gets a fair chance to prove himself because he’s slowly but surely becoming a fan favourite in Toronto because of his work ethic.
4 comments:
I think Mitchell will be there. He may spend some time in the press box this year simply so Burke and Wilson can get a look at some of their newer players like Wallin and Hanson. A lot of fans are forgetting that this is a mid to long term project and the young guys are going to be given every opportunity to become regulars and a large part of their future success. Two other guys who I see breaking out this year with more ice time and more production are Kulemin and Tlusty. On the outs are Stempniak, Blake and Stajan. It is also a make it or break it year for Van Ryn with the newly acquired depth on D.
I think you mean "Wayne" not "Keith" ... you've got the wrong Primeau mentioned.
lol nice pick up Kevin... I wish it was keith LMAO.
Given his concussion issues, I don't think he'd be much more useful than Wayne at this point. But yeah, I'm not that worried about Mitchell. He is what he is, and he'll continue to get a shot.
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