Subj : What Went Wrong With Maple Leafs Jeremy Bracco?
To : All
From : The Hockey Writers - Main
Date : Sun Oct 18 2020 04:40 am
"I';m proud to announce from the London Knights, Mitch Marner."
Those were the words spoken by Toronto Maple Leafs co-interim general manager
Mark Hunter when he stepped up to the podium at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
Yeah, it';s already been that long. No, I can';t believe it either.Related:
Maple Leafs Sign Joe Thornton to 1-Year Deal
Following in the footsteps of William Nylander';s No. 8 selection at the 2014
Draft, fourth-overall Marner marked a clear change in direction for the Leafs
and their drafting philosophy: Find skill first, worry about size later. One
can certainly debate whether the team was able to maintain that process
consistently, at least during Hunter';s tenure, with questionable choices like
6-foot-5 defencemen Keaton Middleton and Nicolas Mattinen coming the following
year. Still, it';s undeniable that the seeds of change had been planted.
And perhaps no draft pick was more emblematic of that change than 61st overall
Jeremy Bracco. Jeremy Bracco was selected 61st overall by the Maple Leafs in
2015. Photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images
The crafty playmaker stood at just 5-foot-10 and about 170 pounds at the time
of the draft, but the Maple Leafs were impressed enough by his passing, vision,
and unique edgework to select him in the second round. With 69 points over 58
games in two years with the United States National Team Development Program
(USNTDP), Bracco clearly had some offensive touch, and the Maple Leafs believed
he could one day play in the NHL. Now, a little over five years since that
draft, we know that Bracco won';t be making his NHL debut in the blue and
white. Last week the team decided not to extend a qualifying offer to the
23-year-old, making him an unrestricted free agent (UFA).
With news breaking on Oct. 16 that Bracco has signed a one-year deal with the
Carolina Hurricanes, it';s clear that the door on his NHL career hasn';t shut
just yet. But with all that skill and promise, you';ve got to wonder what
exactly went wrong with Bracco';s career in Toronto.Bracco Failed to Separate
Himself at the OHL Level
As an American, Bracco had a bit of a different route through junior hockey. He
was drafted as a prospect from the USNTDP system and initially intended to
play for Boston College, where he actually suited up for five games in 2015.
However, he eventually made the decision to move to the Ontario Hockey League
(OHL), perhaps at the behest of the Maple Leafs.Bracco had a solid rookie
season in the OHL but failed to reach elite levels of production. (Photo by
Terry Wilson / OHL Images.)
In his rookie season, the 18-year-old Bracco put up a solid 64 points in 49
games for the Kitchener Rangers. Respectable numbers for sure, but let';s
consider a few points for perspective.
One, the OHL is a notoriously weak league for defence and goaltending, so
Bracco';s pace of 1.3 points per game was not necessarily all that impressive,
especially for an 18-year-old in his draft-plus-one season. And two, Bracco was
competing directly with undersized Maple Leafs draft picks in Marner and even
fifth-round pick Dmytro Timashov. Marner put up an earth-shattering 116 points
in 57 games for the Knights, while even Timashov blew Bracco';s numbers out of
the water with nearly 1.5 points per game in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey
League (QMJHL). Related: Maple Leafs Become Chapter in Vesey';s Puzzling Career
Now don';t get me wrong - it';s not like Bracco wasn';t successful at the OHL
level. Rather, he didn';t dominate at the level you would expect or hope for a
second-round pick. And if he couldn';t dominate against teenagers, how would
the undersized winger ever be able to compete with the better, faster, stronger
pros at the NHL level?
Bracco saw a slight uptick in production in his draft-plus-two year, scoring 83
points in 57 games - a 1.45 point-per-game pace. But by this point, Marner was
already playing for the Maple Leafs, scoring 61 points and quarterbacking
their top power-play unit. Mitch Marner was already putting up impressive point
totals in the NHL while Bracco was still finding his way in juniors. (Frank
Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Just 20 years of age at the end of the 2016-17 season, Bracco was still a
legitimate prospect. At the same time, you had to begin to question his ceiling
and likelihood of reaching his potential. Would his shot, skating, and two-way
play ever improve enough to make it in the NHL?Bracco';s Rise and Fall in the
AHL
Following his relatively successful OHL career, Bracco made the jump to the
Toronto Marlies of the AHL for the 2017-18 season. As one of the youngest
players on the team, the Freeport, NY-native had a hard time getting into the
lineup as he found himself in the press box for 11 of the team';s first 18
games. He eventually found his groove though, suiting up in 50 of the Marlies';
76 games and tallying 32 points along the way. Related: Maple Leafs Draft
Skill and Smarts in Amirov With 15th Pick
But while Bracco was still figuring things out, his peers were seemingly
passing him by. Marner was once again lighting up the NHL with the Maple Leafs,
while Timashov was already in his second season with the Marlies, playing
full-time and gaining the trust of the coaching staff. Bracco was beginning to
cement his reputation as more of a one-dimensional playmaker and power-play
specialist. He would have to become truly elite at his specific skillset in
order to ever make it to the show.2015 fifth-round pick Dmytro Timashov made
his way up the depth charts past Bracco. (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Bracco seemingly took the challenge to heart and came out on fire in the
2018-19 season, torching the AHL with 22 goals and 79 points in 75 games. But
despite the eye-popping box score numbers, there were still huge questions
about his overall game.
For one, 39 of his points - almost exactly half - came on the power play.
That';s obviously a valuable skill, but the Maple Leafs already had Marner as
their right-handed power-play quarterback, and Bracco';s relative inability to
produce at five-on-five was slightly worrying. Secondly, Bracco';s goal totals
were boosted by an unsustainable shooting rate of over 17 percent - double his
rate from the previous year. Related: Brodie Signing Makes Maple Leafs Defence
a Strength
Couple these underlying worries with his weak defensive game and you';ve got a
power-play specialist that can really only fit into an NHL lineup on a scoring
line in sheltered minutes. For a team as deep and talented up front as the
Maple Leafs, the fit just didn';t seem to be there. And the fact that the team
had not yet called him up for even one game suggested that Bracco was way down
on the organization';s depth charts.
Nevertheless, Bracco kept working. He reportedly skipped summer vacation to
train at the Maple Leafs'; practice facility along with veteran Jason Spezza,
setting himself up to be in excellent shape for camp. But despite all the hard
work, the Maple Leafs passed him up again. Bracco wasn';t in the team';s
opening night lineup last October, and over the course of the season he saw six
other Marlies forwards get called up to the NHL before him.Despite his hard
work and success in the AHL, Bracco never got his call up to the Maple Leafs.
(Photo by Aaron Bell/CHL Images)
With the writing now on the wall, everything seemed to fall apart for Bracco.
His production tailed off as he scored just four goals and 34 points in 44
games for the Marlies in 2019-20. And everything came to a boil in December
when Bracco told the organization that he';d like a change of scenery. The
Leafs obviously never found a trading partner, but the 23-year-old winger will
now get a fresh start with the Hurricanes organization.
By all accounts, Bracco is a hard working, fun-loving guy that teammates enjoy
being around, so it';s a shame he was never able to reach that next level in
Toronto. He certainly has the talent to one day contribute in the NHL, and he
may finally get that opportunity in Carolina.
The post What Went Wrong With Maple Leafs'; Jeremy Bracco? appeared first on
The Hockey Writers.
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