‘He’s Always In The Right Spot’: Fraser Minten Continues To Make Strong Impression On Maple Leafs, Rewarded With Second-Line Opportunity Against Predators
The Toronto Maple Leafs handed the Nashville Predators their 10th blown lead loss of the season, which leads the NHL, after a tightly contested matchup had the Leafs prevail, 3-2. However, being held scoreless nearing the end of the second period, head coach Craig Berube decided to shuffle the lines against the 31st-placed Predators.
“Late in the second period, there wasn’t much going on. I thought I’d move a couple of guys around and see if we could get something going,” said Berube postgame. “I think there were five minutes to go in the second.”
Mitch Marner was bumped to the top line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, while 20-year-old Fraser Minten moved up from the third-line center role, where he had been paired with Nick Robertson and Steven Lorentz to play on the wing of John Tavares and William Nylander on the second line.
His growing reliability earned him the mid-game promotion.
A Well-Deserved Promotion
On Wednesday, Minten once again showcased why he’s quickly becoming more comfortable at the NHL level. The forward helped lead the charge with five shots, seven hits, and 13:23 of ice time. It was the third straight game Minten led all Leafs forwards in hits before topping the team overall in physicality against the Predators as he recorded seven hits.
Berube praised Minten’s poise and adaptability in his postgame comments, saying, “I thought he had some chances around the net, shot pucks. Just liked his positioning, his poise out there,” said Berube.
“I just put him on the wing when I switched those lines up, he was solid for me tonight, all around. He finished with seven hits and five shots. He’s poised out there, doesn’t panic, always in the right spot,” he added.
Minten’s promotion was well-earned. In six games for the Leafs this season, he’s registered two goals, two assists, and four points. The 2022 second-round pick (38th overall) was riding a two-game point streak heading into Wednesday's game. His physicality, combined with his awareness, poise, and vision has helped make him a standout in Toronto’s bottom six.
Berube, who has consistently lauded Minten’s maturity and NHL-ready mindset, mentioned his admiration on Monday: “Oh, he's excellent. He talks really like a vet on the bench. He's already got that mindset and mentality and knows the game extremely well,” Berube said.
Despite having such little experience at the professional level, and still being only 20 years old, his offensive instincts and physical presence were on full display against Nashville, helping the Leafs overcome a slow start to secure the seventh win in their last eight games.
Although he was strung along to fill the void up front due to injuries, Minten has continued to prove himself at the NHL level – and only looks to be trending upwards.
