Bottom six forward appears to have received a promotion
Before the season started, there was a lot of speculation regarding who would fill the left-wing slot on the Leafs' second line alongside William Nylander and John Tavares. Since then, the lines have been shuffled a fair bit by moving Nylander onto the top line with Auston Matthews and Michael Bunting and slotting Mitch Marner on Tavares' right wing.
However, that second line left slot has remained up in the air. We've seen Alex Kerfoot in that position at times, Nick Robertson before he was injured last week in the 5-0 win against the Kings, Denis Malgin had spent a few games there and last night, Pierre Engvall was promoted and got a look there as well. It may even be worth keeping him in that position a while longer.
Being only two months into the season so far, it's challenging to account for Engvall's current stats. But going off of last season, it's shown that Engvall's skills complement a line with players like Nylander and Tavares. Not to mention the guy is 6'5 every time he steps on the ice (if only he played like it.. *sigh*).
As nice as it would be to see Engvall play his way up the lineup, he'll have to prove he can play well when given tougher minutes and start using his height, speed and ramp up his physicality to use to his advantage.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 16 | 316 ANSWERS Bottom six forward appears to have received a promotion Should the Leafs give Engvall a longer look in the top six? | ||
| Yes | 133 | 42.1 % |
| No | 183 | 57.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
