Despite Villeneuve's strong start offensively, there are still areas of his game he wants to clean up.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect William Villeneuve is taking everything one day at a time.
As the NHL club battles numerous injuries to their defense, including Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo, both out long-term, many fans wonder why Toronto’s highest-producing defender with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies isn’t getting a chance.
It’s been a lengthy road for the defender, drafted by the Maple Leafs in the fourth round in 2020. Over the last four years, Villeneuve has developed as a puck-moving, offensive defender who can also quarterback a power play at the pro level.
His best season to date, which came last year, saw him score a career-high 40 points in 55 games. This year, Villeneuve has tallied two goals and 12 points through the first 20 games.
The numbers look good, but the defender wants to see himself as a complete player during the final month of the year.
“For me, it's just a question of trying to put everything together and have a complete game,” Villeneuve said on Tuesday in a one-on-one interview. “I would say I think I could be better, and I will be, and that's just something that I want to focus on for December.”
A complete game is something Villeneuve has been building towards over the last few years. The Marlies, though, need it more than ever right now with fellow defensemen either injured or up with the Maple Leafs.
Dakota Mermis, whom the Marlies would lean on for big minutes, is up with the Maple Leafs. Matt Benning, a veteran defender who would also log key minutes for the AHL club, has been out for over a month with a lower-body injury.
Add Henry Thrun to the mix more recently — he’s missed the last two games with an illness — and Villeneuve, at just 23 years old, ends up being the oldest defenseman on the team.
“He's gone from a prospect, to now being the guy with the most amount of games on the back end,” said Marlies head coach John Gruden. “It's flipped pretty darn quick.”
There’s a lot that Villeneuve is working through with increased opportunity early this season, and you can look at it both ways, good and bad. Villeneuve is getting more chances to play in key situations, which is a positive. But that comes with facing the opposition’s top players every night.
“Before, when (Villeneuve) was at his best, he had a guy like Mermis, or he had a guy like (Marshall) Rifai; he had a defenseman that has played more than him to be able to complement his game,” Gruden added.
“Now he's got to be that guy, and I think he's done an admirable job of it. I think there's times where he understands, like, ‘Shoot, I can't do that. He's the younger defenseman. I've got to make sure that I'm always doing the right things out there and not getting caught out of position because I need to help that younger guy.’ So it flipped really quick from a matter of a year where, because of the injuries and the call-ups, he's now in a totally different situation.”
There have been stretches when Villeneuve has been defensively sound, yet there have also been defensive lapses, with the puck sometimes ending up in Toronto’s net.
Despite leading all Marlies defensemen (and tied for sixth in the AHL) in scoring, Villeneuve is a minus-two. It’s not a statistic that carries much meaning in the grand scheme of things, but it’s interesting when you look at where he was at the end of last season: Plus-17.
It’s not that Villeneuve is a poor defender — he’s got to where he is for a reason.
“I think it's being more consistent,” Villeneuve added.
“I think it's the thing we've been talking about for a couple of years now. I think there's a lot of ups and downs, and I just want to find a way to have a game, like a stable game, where I can be relied on every single night and ride with the good (games) and not let the bad ones get too bad.
“So just being more consistent overall. November, it's been up and down a little bit, so I want to find a way in December, and moving forward, to be a little bit more reliable and more consistent.”
Gruden agreed, “I think the more consistency he continues to get, the better he's going to get.
“There are some lapses sometimes with a younger defenseman. We don't have that luxury anymore because he's now one of our older guys. So it's a learning curve for him. But again, he loves the game. He’s a great teammate. And he knows what he needs to work on. He just has to continue to work on those things.”
And once Villeneuve puts the consistency together, there should no doubt be an NHL call-up in his future. It could be sooner than later if the Maple Leafs continue to rack up injuries on the back end.
“I think that would be a dream,” he smiled when asked if getting to the NHL is something he thinks about, given how close he is.
“When you play hockey, you want to play in the NHL. I think it's cliche, but it's so true, like I just got to keep focusing on what I can control and look at myself in the mirror and find ways to get better and point to the things I've got to work on and be better at.
“That's a little bit of something that I did after last weekend. I just realized that I have to be better a little bit in certain aspects of the game. I'm just trying to find my rhythm and find the game that brought me here today. That's really what I'm focusing on.”
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