The Next Big Thing: Jiri Tlusty?

We have quite a few youngsters in this team that many of us will be keenly looking for and hopefully all of them will do well with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Although there is one youngster that interests me a lot over the others and one I feel will do the most damage with the Leafs this year and his name is Jiri Tlusty. Sure he might not be a rookie anymore but he’s still young and hasn’t shown what he’s truly capable of doing.

His exploits in the AHL were seen by most of the NHL community and he’s certainly been talked about in trade talks with Burke as a throw in piece for some trades. Brian Burke is clearly an intelligent man and knows when he has a gem and when he doesn’t. Jiri Tlusty is a gem that has just started to shine and luckily Brian Burke has realized this. Obviously we aren’t sure whether his AHL numbers from last season will result into great numbers at the highest level but they certainly are promising considering the AHL is a tough league and to score like he did at that level is not easy.

We have all seen Jiri Tlusty in the past showing excellent creativity with his playmaking abilities and finishing exploits but they’ve always been far and few between at the NHL level. His skating ability has always been one of his positive skills and he seems to use them to his advantage a lot less then I would hope for from him. The positive is that he used all of these skills brilliantly in the AHL with the Marlies last year and thus showed the Leafs’ management that he truly deserves a shot in the top six with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ron Wilson will surely give him a shot if he shines at training camp and in the pre-season games and it’s really in Jiri’s hands in regards to whether he will deliver the goods in those games.

There are a few negative features of his game that he will need to iron out before becoming a certainty in this Leafs lineup and one of those features is his poor defensive awareness. It’s not so poor that he is caught with his head between his legs each time, but it’s poor enough to send him back to the AHL again. There are little intricacies in his game that he will have to pan out before he becomes an valuable asset for this Leafs’ team. Physicality has also deprived him with longer stints in the NHL previously and I am sure he is trying to make amends by going to the gym to bulk up a bit and add some muscle to his frame. All of his negative aspects can be corrected with a little hard work over the off season on the ice and off it.

I certainly feel he will make an impact and one that will put him perhaps on the top line with the Maple Leafs next season. This is not to take anything away from youngsters like Jonas Gustavvsson, Tyler Bozak, Kulemin, Kadri (who probably won’t play) and Hanson who are going to be great as well but I don’t think they’ll make the type of impact Jiri will. It’s just a gut feeling but Jiri might be the next big thing in Toronto.