The AHL is a different beast than the NHL. It’s a development league, in essence. Yes, there are players that make a career out of riding the bus in the minors, but the vast majority that find themselves pulling on a jersey in the AHL have aspirations of making the NHL. It’s for this reason that there tends to be a lot of turnover within the ranks of every AHL team.
For starters, a lot of prospects may find themselves “marinating” in the minors for longer than they had anticipated. Yaroslav Askarov, a top goalie prospect making his way within the Nashville Predators system, requested a trade this week for just that reason. He feels that his way into the NHL has been blocked by star goaltender Juuse Saros, as well as the team signing long time backup Scott Wedgewood. Fair enough.
Toronto’s own Nicholas Robertson has done the same. Counting himself as a victim of a numbers game in which he believes has lead to him being unfairly demoted to the minors, rather than the truth of it all, that he has been a victim of too many injuries and hasn’t produced at the NHL level until this year, he has requested a new start within a different organization.
I don’t believe that Robertson has earned the right to request a trade. Instead, I believe he has always wanted to play in a warmer climate and has never viewed being selected by the Leafs as the honour that so many others would and now sees an opportunity to make that happen. Alex Steeves, on the other hand, may justifiably wonder if signing somewhere other than Toronto could have turned into a longer stint in the NHL by now.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Steeves has been mistreated in any way. It’s not as if he’s producing massive numbers for the Toronto Marlies, but he’s certainly been a steady contributor and a good soldier. He has paid his dues and has simply found himself within an organization that hasn’t been able to afford him the opportunity that another club may have been able to.
In short, he hasn’t stolen a job, but he’s been good enough in the AHL to make you wonder if a 15-20 game stint could have allowed him to relax a little, play his game and maybe show more than he has in his 7 career NHL games. Maybe that’s why he has opted to take a 1 year contract that may see him walk as a Group 6 UFA next summer. If he does leave and gets a shot within another organization I will hope that he makes Toronto look a little silly for having him in their system for so long and not giving him a longer look in the NHL. After all, he’s been one of the most productive Marlies ever.
Yes, turnover in the AHL is high, as I said, which means the Marlies all time leader isn’t somebody with 1000pts, like an NHL teams points leader could be, so maybe it wouldn’t surprise you to know that Steeves could walk next summer as the all-time points leader for the Marlies. As it stands today, he has 69 goals and 154pts in 188 games with Toronto’s AHL affiliate. That leaves him just 14pts behind Kris Newbury’s 168pts in 198 games for the all-time lead. Now, Newbury was a much different player. He brought a gritty element that Steeves doesn’t provide, but he still garnered 15 and 28 game NHL seasons with the Leafs before they decided that he may never become a bonafide NHL player. Steeves hasn’t played more than 3 contests in a single campaign in the NHL.
Does he get a better shot this year? Maybe, maybe not. All I can say is that with 46pts in 58 games in his debut season, followed by 51pts in 65 games and 57pts in 65 games, his production and presence has been steady throughout his tenure with the club. It makes you wonder if there’s more to the man that could soon call himself the all-time points leader of an AHL team.
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