The Toronto Maple Leafs – and the rest of the hockey world – were shocked when 19 year-old former second-round draft pick Fraser Minten made the team out of training camp.
Though conventional wisdom says the Toronto Maple Leafs will send him back to junior after a nine game audition (because their is an unjustified mania about burning a year of team control, and because NHL teams tend to baby all non-blue-chip prospects) Minten is making a case to stay.
It is unquestionably ridiculous to make a professional hockey player waste a year playing against kids, most of whom have no chance of ever playing in the NHL, so sending him back after nine games shouldn’t be automatic.