Keefe singles out surprising player, praises him as the team's best player in Carolina
The Leafs finally appear to be gaining some steam this season. Back-to-back wins over the Atlantic-leading Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes have the Leafs, and this writer, in good spirits. A big part of that success comes from the Leafs' bottom 6 playing like they're meant to. Fast, physical and able to chip in offensively.
It's come as a bit of a shock that Denis Malgin has been such a useful player in the Leafs' bottom 6. The undersized winger brings a lot of speed, a surprising amount of physicality and a decent amount of offensive ability to the team. He's been a pleasant surprise at an extremely low cap hit.
Malgin led all Leafs with 5 shots on goal in the game against the Hurricanes. During the first half he was the only Leaf who looked like a scoring threat. Unfortunately, he wasn't rewarded with a goal for his efforts, as his best scoring chance rung off the post behind Frederik Andersen and stayed out.
After the game, Sheldon Keefe made sure to mention Malgin's effort.
I thought Denis Malgin was our best player through much of the hockey game. One of the only guys to really hang onto the puck & really challenging the inside & making things happen.
- Sheldon Keefe
- Sheldon Keefe
If I'm being honest, I didn't expect Malgin to make the Leafs at all this season. He certainly looks like a different player compared to the one we saw last time he donned the blue and white. If he keeps this level of play up, I don't see any reason for him to come out of the lineup going forward.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 7 | 575 ANSWERS Keefe singles out surprising player, praises him as the team's best player in Carolina How do you feel about Denis Malgin this season? | ||
| He's been a pleasant surprise | 464 | 80.7 % |
| Meh, replacement level player | 92 | 16 % |
| Don't like him at all | 19 | 3.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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