On Morgan Rielly, who has Leaf fans all a Twitter, but a note of caution...

I noticed on the weekend that, in the absence of NHL early-season hockey, many Leaf fans were turning their attention to the Marlies and also to Leaf prospects playing junior hockey across Canada.

It’s fun to do that.  I spent a good chunk of my earlier Leaf-possessed youth frantically following how  prospective future Leafs were doing. (It was harder in my day to really know how guys in the “system”, or potential or actual future draft picks, were developing—there was no real TV coverage and of course, no Internet!) It’s always kind of neat to play the “what’s ahead” game with our prospects, especially when you’re a Leaf fan and the present is not always that tolerable.  The future  provides glimpses of hope, at least.

The Marlies’ opening AHL weekend was appropriately Leaf-like.  A very thorough opening-night 3-1 victory at home was followed by a second encounter on Sunday with lots of shots by the good guys but a lousy result.   The 4-0 scoreline in the loss may not have been fair, but it was emphatic.  Just about everyone on the Marlies looked good enough to play for the big club on Saturday—not so much on Sunday.  So the picture kinds of fits, eh? (Quick aside:  we best not get too high or low over the weekly travails of the Marlies.  As much as the play of prospects at that level is often some indication of future NHL performance, there are so many variables I’m not sure it’s always a reliable predictor…)

There was also some weekend excitement around 2012 first-round pick Morgan Rielly’s impressive 5-assist night for his sometimes struggling Moose Jaw squad on the weekend in the Western Canadian junior loop.  That’s a standout evening for any player at any level, to be sure.  It so happens that as I was writing this particular column, I broke away to spend a few moments on Twitter (just in case, you know, there was a miracle breakthrough in the CBA negotiations...). I noted that someone  had "re-tweeted" a comment from a former long-time Leaf beat reporter.  Apparently a junior scout had opined that Rielly could become the most talented rearguard (I may not have the words exactly correct) for  the Leafs since Borje Salming, seen during his time with the Leafs in  the photo on the left.

What little I’ve seen of the young man certainly fits with the assessments I’ve read in various publications and outlets.  I don't know just yet about the Salming point of reference, but Rielly is  hockey-smart, has good vision, is a very nice skater with some “giddy-up"-  a defenseman who moves the puck awfully well and seems to have a "pull-away" gear.

Now, not to throw cold water on the accolades being passed young Rielly's way (and by extension, to the Leafs, for drafting him), but let me temper our expectations just a bit at this stage. I well recognize that what has happened in the past may mean absolutely nothing when it comes to the present.  History does not always foreshadow the future in hockey- even in Toronto.  I get it.

Yet I fear what could transpire next because it has occurred all too often in my lifetime as a Leaf observer.  And not all of it is "long ago and far away" and therefore irrelevant.  Here's the chain of events: we draft a young defenseman who has all the tools in the world.  They may be big, or tough, or a great skater—whatever.  We naturally project that, with any kind of coaching at all (and maybe, imagine, a bit of patience as well) they will some day not only be a Maple Leaf, but a high-end NHL’er.  Maybe even, goodness, an All-Star.

Let me see.  It was going to be that way with, ah…..Ian Turnbull.  He was a wonderfully talented junior in the early 1970s.  I saw him play often in his last year of junior hockey and he was outstanding.  Drafted in the first round by the Leafs, he did have some nice years with the Leafs, peaking in the 1978 playoffs against the Islanders and Montreal when he played the best hockey of his life.   But his career was over by the time he was 28, 29.

Then there was Trevor Johanssen, a tough sparkplug of a defender, an ex-Marlie as I recall.  I saw him as a junior as well and was thrilled when the Leafs selected him in the draft a few years after Turnbull.  I thought he would be a Leaf for 15 seasons.  He played strongly for the Leafs but for some reason was traded at the age of 21 and retired by the time he was 25.

Then there was Randy Carlyle.  He struggled at first but over time became a Norris Trophy winner.  Just not with the Maple Leafs, unfortunately.  In more recent (at least to me...for some the name may sound like ancient history) times there was the uber-talented Al Iafrate.  In my estimation, Iafrate (seen in his early Leaf days on the right) may have been the most naturally gifted defenseman ever to play for the blue and white, and that’s saying a lot, since I've been following the team since the late 1950s.  I may be alone in that assessment, but regardless, he was extremely talented.  Again, though, he was brought up too soon, suffered a knee injury, and while he actually had a productive and fairly lengthy NHL career, it just wasn’t, for the most part, in Toronto.

Before Al there was high first-round pick Gary Nylund, a can’t miss NHL prospect in the early 80s.  I believe he came out of the Portland Winter Hawks system.  Drafted in the top four by the Leafs in the first round, Nylund brought a great attitude, a heart of gold and the willingness to work his tail off, despite his somewhat limited skating ability.  Sadly, he was pushed into the league too soon and early-on knee injuries did not kill, but certainly curtailed, what was a promising NHL—and Maple Leaf—career.  He was eventually traded to Chicago.

But when I see and hear all the glowing reviews about Rielly’s game, I can’t help but think about another former Maple Leaf pick, who joined the team as a 18-year old.  He made the jump to the pros amid, for the time (nothing compares with the media and Internet hype that we all are part of nowadays) a ton of publicity.  And that was young Jim Benning.

Benning had amazing on-ice vision.  He could make deft, no-look passes, the kind few others could even envision, much less make. He could skate very well and move the puck.  A supremely skilled offensive player, he was almost too good for junior hockey—thus his unfortunate and rather premature call to the “big leagues” after Punch Imlach (or was it Gerry McNanamara by then?) had drafted him in the summer of 1981.  I think it was Punch, because I seem to recall Imlach comparing Benning (in some way, not overall, I don't think) to Bobby Orr—never a good comment to hang on your top prospect.

Benning, drafted sixth overall, I think it was, had some nice seasons with the Leafs, putting up some very decent assist numbers, though also some huge “minus” numbers as well.  (I‘m pretty sure most Leafs did in those days…)  But he was not a physical defenseman, and I always felt he had been pushed into the lineup (can you say Luke Schenn?) too soon. While he looked great at first in Toronto, he kind of regressed in some ways as time went on.  His confidence waned, and his performance suffered.  Of course, the atmosphere around the Leafs in the dismal early ‘80s was not exactly the best environment for a young, promising player to fulfill their promise.

By the age of 23, Benning had been traded to the Canucks. He was out of the NHL by the time he was 26—just another example of the gross mismanagement of so many of our prospects over the decades.  As I’ve said here before, I consider Schenn (and Gustavsson on the goaltending side of things) in that category as well.

So while I love to hear that young Rielly is playing well, and has loads of promise, I tend to temper my projections, based on what I’ve observed in the hockey world for the past fifty plus years.  I remember an old NHL coach saying years ago that draft picks are called “prospects” for a very good reason—they haven’t done anything yet.

Rielly looks awfully good, I admit, and it’s important to be positive and have hope for the future.  But even if he’s very, very good some day soon, he’ll still be just one piece of a very large puzzle that will be needed to make the blue and white legitimate contenders for something more than just a measly playoff spot…