Leafs prospect's season comes to a heartbreaking conclusion under very unfortunate circumstances
The Kamloops Blazers' season has officially come to an end, but it wasn't the sendoff that the Memorial Cup hosts were hoping for, being eliminated by the Peterborough Petes in the Memorial Cup quarterfinals, blowing a 4-1 lead on home in the process. And now, just like that, the last Leafs prospect is done playing hockey for the season, as Fraser Minten, the Leafs' 2022 2nd round pick, and the Blazers are left with nothing but their heads in their hands.
Minten was held to just 1 goal in his 4 games, but largely played very well, so it's not as though anyone is faulting him. The Blazers were also forced to play without two of their top 3 forwards for a good chunk of time after New Jersey Devils prospect Chase Stillman ran over Matthew Seminoff in open ice before fighting Caeden Bankier and rocking him with a number of heavy shots, sending him crashing to the ice.
With that, Minten will now look to Leafs training camp as his next opportunity to show what he can do. As he is still just on the cusp of finally turning 19 years of age (July 5th), it's likely that he'll head back to Kamloops for one more year of Junior hockey. However, with how well he had acquitted himself during Leafs' camp last year, it's entirely possible that he makes the team and gives the Leafs another player on an entry-level contract to work with, which would allow new GM Brad Treliving to weaponize his cap space knowing that he'll have one less roster spot to fill in free agency.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 2 | 232 ANSWERS Leafs prospect's season comes to a heartbreaking conclusion under very unfortunate circumstances Will Fraser Minten make the Leafs' roster out of training camp this fall? | ||
| Yes, he almost made it last year | 70 | 30.2 % |
| No, he needs more time | 135 | 58.2 % |
| Don't bring him up just because he's on an ELC | 27 | 11.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
