The 18-year-old second-round pick (38th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft is participating in his second Maple Leafs development camp.
The 18-year-old second-round pick (38th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft is participating in his second Maple Leafs development camp.
When Minten walked up to speak to the media at Maple Leafs development camp, something felt different.
Minten, Toronto's second-round pick (38th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft wasn't nervous or shy like he might've been last summer at his first development camp in Toronto.
No, this time, you could feel the confidence radiating off of him.
Coming off an impressive season with the WHL's Kamloops Blazers, where Minten put up 31 goals and 36 assists in 57 games, the 18-year-old is older, but also a bit wiser.
"I think a bit of everything," Minten said when asked about what he's improved on in the last year. "I don't think there's a specific area that's gotten a ton better. I think just progressively. I don't think I got a ton stronger, bigger.
"We played a lot of hockey this year so there wasn't much gym time. But I think with being on the ice so much, you get more comfortable skating, you just improve your skills, get more comfortable with little battles. So, I think I got better at just a bit of everything."
So much hockey is right. After 57 regular season games and 10 playoff games, Minten and the Blazers played four games in the Memorial Cup.
There, the 18-year-old had one goal in four games. But it's not just the production that matters, the experience does too.
"It was amazing. It was probably the most fun hockey I've ever played in," Minten said. "Seeing the environment and the community, and the competition level with it being so intense and the stakes being so high, it was so much fun."
You can learn a lot from playing in a tournament such as the Memorial Cup. But what was the biggest takeaway for the 18-year-old center?
"Just the importance of every single play, and (having a) short memory in a competition like that," he said. "Similar to potentially like a World Juniors tournament or those sort of events I think, where it's just you gotta move on right away if you make a bad play, or if you make a good play, just get ready for that next shift.
"I think learning that and seeing the importance of that will help break me into being a pro. Because if you make a mistake here, there's lots of guys that will fill your spot, so being able to be more consistent and play like a pro, really."
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Minten's next season in Kamloops is vital for his development. After three seasons in the WHL, being drafted, and taking in two development camps with Toronto, the 18-year-old is looking to take on more of a leadership role with the Blazers this year.
"I think it'd be an awesome opportunity in Kamloops to be a leader and be one of the top players on the team this year for sure," Minten said, "and that's something I'd really like to do."
But first, the six-foot-one center will spend a month-and-a-half in Toronto, where he hopes to get more time in the gym ahead of next season.
"Yeah, that's the plan. Get bigger, get stronger."
Maple Leafs Assistant GM, Player Development, Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser would agree.
"We've seen a little bit of growth in him already in terms of his strength and explosivity. I think he's starting to fill into the frame that he has, which is a pretty good frame to put mass on.
"His shot, he's got a really tricky release, a good release. And I think it's just evolving his tenacity and his assertiveness and the way he plays the game to be able to dominate more in just different areas of the game (that) when he steps out on the ice, other players know, 'Okay, this guy's out there and he can hurt us,' at the WHL level. So, more of a mentality for Fraser and then just continuing to expand on his physical development."
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Minten, obviously, will have off-ice goals, such as gaining strength in the weight room. But when it comes to next season, what does he hope to accomplish on the ice?
"Come here (Toronto) for training camp and have another good camp here. And then dominate the WHL next year, that's my goal.
"Go back and hopefully be a leader on my team, show everyone the ropes, and have a really good year there."
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