Former Leaf has the best reaction to all of the Rasmus Sandin discourse in Toronto
Since a surprising trade that sent Rasmus Sandin to Washington prior to the trade deadline, the 22-year-old defenseman has been making the Leafs and their fanbase regret the trade and not giving him more of an opportunity during his time in Toronto. In 4 games with the Capitals, Sandin has 1 goal and 8 points and has played North of 23 minutes in 3 of 4 games.
On TSN 1050 "First Up" this morning, co-host and former Leaf Carlo Colaiacovo had the perfect reaction to Leafs Nation hating that he is now excelling with Washington. "Calm down," Colaiacovo said. "This is a guy that's been begging for more opportunity, for more playing time so he can have the type of stretch that he's having. Do you know why he's having such an unbelievable start with the Washington Capitals? Can you name another defenseman on the Capitals right now?
He went to a situation that is perfectly suited for the type of player that he is. He's taking advantage of an opportunity of a lifetime in Washington and absolutely relishing it. He was never going to get this type of opportunity in Toronto with the guys that are ahead of him. This is a massive over-reaction for the way people are reacting to Sandin's success. He is in a situation right now that is allowing him to have this type of success."
Colaiacovo also said that Sandin played up to this standard when he was given the opportunity with the Leafs, which is the one thing I disagree with. When he was given the chance to play top-4 minutes with the Leafs, he struggled to perform and produce at this level. Not to mention, Sandin was a redundant type of defenseman for the Leafs - a puck-moving, offensive, undersized player, which the Leafs didn't necessarily need. They already have Morgan Rielly and Timothy Liljegren and have the likes of Topi Niemela and William Villeneuve waiting in the wings. This could very-well just be lightning in a bottle, so to speak, for Sandin, but I'm happy to see him succeeding, even if it's not in Toronto.
