Maple Leafs' Plans for Rookie Forward Fraser Minten Becoming Clear

Prior to the start of Maple Leafs training camp, so much of the talk was surrounding some of the younger players and whether or not they could make the jump to the NHL this season -- Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin being the 3 names brought up most frequently.

As we know now, Cowan was returned to the London Knights for another OHL season, Grebenkin got his North American career started with the Toronto Marlies and Minten, well, he was never able to take part in Leafs training camp due to an ankle injury suffered during the 2024 Prospects Showcase in Montreal.

Minten, who is recovering from a high-ankle sprain, has been back on the ice, ramping up the intensity in his workouts in the last week or two, and appears to be close to full health. How close? Well, he was spotted in a grey "extras" jersey at the Leafs' morning skate on Thursday.

After making the Leafs out of training camp in 2023-24, it is becoming abundantly clear that the Leafs would like another look at him in an NHL setting under new head coach Craig Berube. Otherwise, why wouldn't he have simply been sent down to work with the Marlies' development staff if the plan was to integrate him into the Marlies' more immediate picture?

Minten happens to play a premium position, and one that the Leafs are lacking in. During training camp, we saw the team experiment with William Nylander at center once again. Obviously, from past trials, we knew it simply didn't work, and the result was the same this year. The Leafs also don't seem to trust Pontus Holmberg as a center, forcing Max Domi to shift to the middle to complete a group of pivots that currently features Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Domi, and the recently scratched David Kampf.

The Leafs' development staff has been notably very high on Minten dating back to last year's development camp. Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, the Leafs' AGM also made some strong comments about Minten's poise, maturity, work ethic, and skill set at this year's development camp, which is further evidence of just how much the team likes his game.

The Leafs are also up against the cap and will need to move some money out in order to be able to facilitate the LTIR activations of Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpaa and Connor Dewar. Moving Kampf and Timothy Liljegren gives the Leafs the room necessary to activate them, and Minten would provide a nice, low-cost option down the middle in the bottom six. When you add it all up, it just seems to be too feasible to brush off as coincidence. Minten also showed up to training camp in the best shape of his young career, showing that he really took his offseason training very seriously in hopes of making the NHL.

As far as Minten's status goes, he's still listed on the Leafs' season opening injured reserve (SOIR) list, but with the 20-year-old pivot skating in an extras jersey, it seems like it's only a matter of time before he's ready for game action. I fully expect that we'll see him start with the Leafs, even if the longer-term plan is to have him play with the Marlies. Of course, anything can happen.