Sheldon Keefe quote suggests that a Leafs prospect may actually make the team out of training camp

There have been some pretty interesting storylines coming out of Maple Leafs training camp this year. Obviously, there's the emergence of Easton Cowan as a legitimate top prospect. There's also the tremendous growth of Matthew Knies as an effective NHL player after just 10 games of NHL experience last season/playoffs. Perhaps the most intriguing storylines is how much the Leafs' 2nd round pick in 2022, Fraser Minten, has improved between last fall and this fall.

Most were expecting Knies to make some noise at training camp this fall, but I don't think many were expecting Minten to be as fantastic as he's been this pre-season. The two former 2nd round picks have formed a great deal of chemistry with one another in camp and have combined for 5 points in their last 2 pre-season games against Montreal on Friday and Saturday.

At this point last week, it appeared likely that Minten, along with Cowan, would be sent back to their junior clubs this week to get a running start on their 2023-24 seasons in the WHL and OHL, respectively. However, through 5 pre-season games, both players remain with the big club. While Cowan's most likely fate is to return to the London Knights sooner than later after a successful first NHL camp, we may yet see Minten sticking around even longer. With how Sheldon Keefe spoke about him following Saturday night's game against the Habs, he may even make the team out of training camp.

On Saturday, Keefe was asked whether he felt that Minten had any pro-ready traits that would allow him to make the jump to the NHL right now and what those traits might be. Here's his response:



I don't know about you, but to me, it sounds a lot like Keefe is considering keeping Minten in Toronto, at least to begin the season. Now, granted, a lot can change over the last 3 pre-season games, but with what we've seen from Minten at this year's training camp, if Keefe did opt to keep him up with the big club, it would be well-deserved.

Minten is still just 19 years old and will not turn 20 until next summer, so the Leafs certainly don't have to rush anything with him. Sending him back to the WHL for another dominant season would be a fine decision. However, if he's ready, he's ready. He has not looked out of place with the Leafs this pre-season and he even played against a Canadiens team that iced the likes of captain Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, 2022 1st overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky and 2023 5th overall pick David Reinbacher. Even against this Habs group, Minten was quite arguably the best player on the ice for either team last night. Minten ended the game with a pretty impressive stat line, recording 1 PP goal (GWG), 1 assist, 3 shots on goal and 3 hits in 17:17 of ice time.

Is Minten NHL-ready? He certainly carries a lot of traits that would suggest that he is, but at the end of the day, it will be up to Sheldon Keefe and the coaching staff in Toronto to determine whether it's better for his development to keep him with the big club or send him back for one more year with the Kamloops Blazers to play big minutes in all situations. Either way, the Leafs appear to have a legitimate impact player on the way in Minten.