The Toronto Maple Leafs may not need scoring, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt.
On Thursday afternoon, it was announced by the Maple Leafs that they were calling up Alex Steeves while John Klingberg was moved to the long-term injured reserve.
The 23-year-old centre is someone to get excited about. Since becoming professional, all the New Hampshire-native has been able to do is score. So far this season with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, Steeves has 11 goals and 18 points in 14 games. His point per game pace of 1.29 is the highest in three seasons in the AHL.
For his entire AHL career, he has 53 goals and 115 points in 137 games. His career high in goals came in 2021-22 when he potted 23 in 58 games, while his career high in points came in 2022-23, posting 51 of them in 65 games.
Steeves has even had a cup of coffee in the National Hockey League the past two seasons. In 2021-22, he played three games while picking up the same. He did the same the next season, but was held pointless and was a -2.
Scoring doesn’t always translate between the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League. However, Steeves has shown to be a capable scorer with a nose for the net according to Dobberprospects. As evident by his scoring numbers, Steeves knows how to put the puck in the back of the net.
The Leafs scoring depth hasn’t been great this season. While their top guns have been top guns, no players aside from William Nylander, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Morgan Reilly have reached double digit points.
Matthew Knies has been their best depth forward, scoring five goals and nine points, while Calle Jarnkrok has four goals and nine points. Max Domi has been held goalless in 17 games, but has nine assists. Tyler Bertuzzi has been playing better, but still only has four goals and eight points.
Could Steeves link back up with Nick Robertson in the bottom six to give Toronto more depth scoring? Time will tell if Steeves’ goal-scoring numbers will translate to the National Hockey League, but he could be a much-needed spark to the Leafs’ bottom six.
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