Recent rough patch pushing Leafs prospect down the depth chart, leading to some concerns; could he be used as a deadline trade chip?
There are plenty of reasons to be excited for this Toronto Maple Leafs team, not just now, but in the future as well. Not only do the Leafs have a solid core that consists of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares, but they also have a pretty decent prospect pool, including Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, Topi Niemela, Ty Voit, Fraser Minten and a handful of others.
We have seen a lot of chatter over how impressive some of the Leafs' top prospects have been this season and although Robertson's season came to an abrupt and unfortunate end early on, we have had plenty of reasons to celebrate the successes of some other future Leafs, as Voit currently leads the OHL in points and Knies and Minten are over a point per game in the NCAA and WHL, respectively. However, with the ups come some unavoidable downs and for Fraser Minten, he's currently down at the moment.
Minten, who has played a key role for the Kamloops Blazers this season, has 23 goals and 22 assists this season for a total of 45 points in just 38 games, but has now gone 4 consecutive games without a point and has found himself demoted to the team's 3rd line.
Now, obviously, every player has peaks and valleys throughout the course of a season and this is likely just a bump in the road for Minten. However, if his play was solid during this stretch, there would have been no real reason to demote him to the third line, leading us to believe that there's something about his game right now that just isn't clicking and some reason for concern.
For young players, consistency is arguably the toughest thing to accomplish and maintain. While Minten has been consistently good more often than not this season, whatever funk he's in right now doesn't appear to be a minor one. Hockey is very much a mental game as well as a physical game and sometimes it can be a real challenge to overcome the mental hurdles.
Of course, Minten could just be a goal or two away from snapping out of his current slump and going on another heater, but at least for now, there is some concern that he's sliding so far down the depth chart. With the deadline just over 3 weeks away, it will be interesting to see whether or not Dubas could look to package Minten with draft picks in an attempt to make an impact acquisition ahead of the playoffs.
Minten was the Leafs' 2nd round draft pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. While many scouts had him ranked as a mid-late 2nd rounder, the Leafs reportedly had Minten in their top-15 ranked skaters. If Dubas has any inclination that the scouting staff may have made a mistake, it wouldn't be shocking to see him include Minten in a trade package to ensure that he gets some value back. However, if he believes that Minten will begin to trend in the right direction, then perhaps holding onto him is the smarter decision.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 7 | 261 ANSWERS Recent rough patch pushing Leafs prospect down the depth chart, leading to some concerns; could he be used as a deadline trade chip? Should the Leafs use Fraser Minten as a deadline trade chip? | ||
| Yes | 146 | 55.9 % |
| No | 115 | 44.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
