TORONTO -- Josh Leivo does not want out of Toronto. But he also wants to play. At this point, the latter does not appear to be possible unless it is somewhere other than Toronto.
Meeting with the media for the first time since a report on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday stated he requested a trade from the team that drafted him 86th overall in the 2011 draft, it was important to Leivo that the message that gets conveyed is not one of a malcontent complaining because he is not getting his way. He would love to remain with the Maple Leafs. He wants to play in Toronto. But if he is not going to get the chance for the foreseeable future, for the sake of his career, he knows he needs to play somewhere.
“I just want to play hockey. I do want to play for the Maple Leafs, that’s why I signed for another year but at the same time, I just want to play,” said Leivo, who signed a one year, $925 000 deal on November 18, 2017.
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At 24-years- old, Leivo is very much in the prime years of his career. He needs the opportunity to show what he can do at the NHL level for a consistent stretch of games. He’s never received that chance in Toronto.
Leivo skated in just 25 games since the start of the 2016-17 season and was a healthy scratch the past 14 games. He last played on Dec. 31 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I still want to be here, I still want to play. I just have to get in the lineup, 25 games in two years is not enough,” said Leivo. “Hopefully I can get in with this team and help them win, but I just need to play.”
Throughout these past two seasons, Leivo did not whine nor bellyache about his situation. He’s typically among the first two or three skaters on the ice for each practice and morning skate. He has not made himself a distraction and worked hard to keep himself ready for when his number is called.
The problem is the Maple Leafs are strong on the wing, and Leivo knows it.
“We know we’re deep, so I just have to keep working and wait for the opportunity,” said Leivo. “It’s a tough lineup to crack.”
William Nylander, Mitchell Marner and Connor Brown have three of the four spots on the right wing spoken for. Zach Hyman, Patrick Marleau and James van Riemsdyk are written in ink on the left side. Recently, when Leo Komarov was dropped down to the fourth line, it bumped Matt Martin from the lineup.
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Leivo’s skill set lends itself more towards a top six role, so in sporadic fourth line duty, there is not a great fit. Moreover, coach Mike Babcock favours fourth line players who are adept penalty killers which gave Kasperi Kapanen the leg up on Leivo lately.
The difficult part is that when Leivo had an opportunity on rare occasions, he was productive with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 53 games. It is clear he has something to give offensively, but just not at the expense of anyone else ahead of him in the lineup. It’s also clear that the Maple Leafs value his ability, otherwise they would not have protected him in the Expansion Draft last summer.
Leivo is a great insurance policy to have on the roster. When Mitchell Marner was injured in February of 2017, Leivo played his best hockey as a Maple Leaf, skating on a line with Komarov and Nazem Kadri. But at some point, being the understudy, understandably, gets tiring.
Leivo said it has been frustrating at times, not getting a consistent chance, though he credited his teammates for helping to keep him positive. It’s an interesting dynamic. The very people keeping him out of the lineup are the ones keeping him in a good frame of mind. If Leivo was to be bitter, he likely would not be as effusive in his praise for his teammates.
“When you have a good team here, good group of guys, we all get along and they help you get through it,” said Leivo. “You go home and have friends and family, they keep you positive and keep you going but at the time same, you want to play at some point and have to get in the lineup.”
Last season, Leivo embarked on a five-game conditioning stint in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies during a long stretch of inactivity with the Maple Leafs in November, but said he is unlikely to accept a conditioning stint this season if approached by Maple Leafs management.
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“I haven’t really thought of that, but I don’t think I would,” said Leivo. “I think I’ve played enough games in the AHL. I want to play in the NHL now.”
This, too, is understandable. Leivo proved himself in the AHL, with 124 points in 171 games, while adding 27 points in 35 playoff games. He was an AHL All Star in 2016. To risk an injury during a conditioning stint would derail another team’s potential interest prior to the Feb. 26 trade deadline; much less make it any easier for him to get into the lineup with the Maple Leafs.
So, Leivo speaks out, though the next move belongs to the Maple Leafs.