The Leafs have continued the auditions in their bottom-six forward group, with Alex Steeves being the latest Marlie to get a look with the big club. An undrafted free agent signing of the club in the spring of 2021, the now 23-year-old has been productive in his first season and a half of professional hockey.
Steeves was behind the eight ball to start his first AHL campaign, having suffered an injury in his first rookie camp that forced him to miss the beginning of the season. He hit the ground running, however, and ended his first pro season with 23 goals and 23 assists in just 58 games. He even earned a three-game call-up to the Leafs, registering an assist in his first taste of NHL action.
A key offensive piece for the Marlies again this season, Steeves tallied 16 goals and 22 assists through 44 games but had to sit and watch as he was passed over for an NHL recall in favor of players like Joey Anderson, Bobby McMann, and even Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. Finally back with the Leafs, Steeves has been noticeable in his first two NHL games of the season.
He has been confined to limited minutes on the fourth line alongside Pontus Holmberg and Zach Aston-Reese, but has still managed to show flashes of his offensive instincts. He nearly notched his first NHL goal in Friday’s contest against Columbus but was denied on a spectacular stop by Jonas Korpisalo, and narrowly missed finding twine again on Saturday night as he popped loose in the high slot and fired a hard one-timer that found iron.
All of Steeves, Anderson, and McMann share some similarities in the way that they play a north-south style, hounding pucks and putting pressure on opposing defenses, but Steeves might just present a bit more offensive upside than the other two. He has an NHL-quality release, both on his wrister as well as his one-timer, but it is his ability to find open pockets of space around the opposing net that sets him apart from Anderson and McMann. Those opportunities may be tougher to come by on an NHL fourth line than they have been in the Marlies’ top-six but if the Leafs are looking for a bit more scoring punch from their bottom-six, Steeves could end up being the most viable option they have internally.
Steeves, along with Holmberg and Joseph Woll, was reassigned to the Marlies ahead of their game on Monday, and he picked up his 17th goal of the year in a 4-2 win over Manitoba, but it sounds like all three will be back with the Leafs before Wednesday’s matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks. Look for Steeves to get at least a few more games to show what he’s capable of as the Leafs’ front office continues to nail down their plans ahead of the trade deadline.
Alex Steeves gets on the board for the #Marlies.
Oskari Salminen gets pulled and Arvid Holm comes into Manitoba's net. Toronto up 3-1. pic.twitter.com/A5cYWMjd2A
— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) February 14, 2023
In the meantime, let’s catch up with what the rest of the Leafs’ prospect pool was up to last week.
Matt Knies does his best Mitch Marner impression with the slick takeaway before making a nice drop pass on the partial breakaway#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/vtt47yWSzI
— Nick Richard (@_NickRichard) February 11, 2023
This is Fraser Minten in his office @MapleLeafs pic.twitter.com/n82zfNBNrD
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) February 11, 2023
Abruzzese got ALLLLLL of that one pic.twitter.com/8dWPdkwkL6
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) February 11, 2023
Joseph Woll, again, with a number of big saves for the #Marlies. He's been coming up big in this one for Toronto. pic.twitter.com/NiNClva09j
— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) February 14, 2023
Perfect back door feed on the powerplay by #LeafsForever prospect Nikita Grebyonkin. He now has four goals and five assists in his last 10 games. pic.twitter.com/CkoTG9U2Uh
— Nick Richard (@_NickRichard) February 7, 2023
Mikhail Abramov turns and fires it into the back of the net. His 6th of the season and third point in four games.#Marlies up 3-0 over Charlotte in the second period. pic.twitter.com/9dTf5Qnq3t
— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) February 12, 2023
Mikey mania in Madison! pic.twitter.com/09VBCyaoCE
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) February 11, 2023
(Statistics from EliteProspects.com)
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