There's a Reason the Leafs Are Playing Like Marlies
A funny thing happened on the way from Stockholm to hockey's Center of the Known Universe.
Some time ago, nine of Tobias Lindberg's family made plans to cross the pond and see for themselves how their 20-year-old prodigy was doing in the AHL.
They were too late.
After striking for 12 points in 19 games for the Toronto Marlies since being picked up in the Dion Phaneuf trade to Ottawa, the Maple Leafs' brain trust figured he was ready to do some of this in The Show.
And so was Lindberg:
As of today, the 6-3 right wing is a Leaf, joining this cast of 2015-2016 Toronto Marlies in the locker room:
| Connor Brown | Viktor Loov |
| Bryan Foese | William Nylander |
| Zach Hyman | Nikita Soshnikov |
| Kasperi Kapanen | Garret Sparks |
| Brendan Leipsic | Rinat Valiev |
Truth be told, this crew's getting the job done. The rooks have been playing a significant role in the Maple Leaf's recent plus-run, going 7-4 in their last 11.
Well, that is a whole buncha reality to absorb all at once.
Leave it to fellow doormat Buffalo to restore some semblance of order by posting their own 4-1 victory in upstate New York this evening.
Not that ever-optimistic Leaf fans minded. The drubbing kept them in a tie for the bottom and thus the No 1 position in this spring's draft, aka the Austio Matthews lottery.
Dude would fit in well with any team, of course, but joining this current crop of Marlie grads and knowing more are on the way ...
... might possibly provide the long-lost cure for Leafness, if such an elixir even exists .