The Toronto Marlies have announced their official roster today, as the AHL season officially begins.
Marlies Official 2017 Roster
| Name | Position | 2016-17 Club(s) | D.O.B. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miro Aaltonen | F | Vityaz (KHL) | 06/07/1993 |
| Jeremy Bracco | F | Kitchener (OHL) Windsor (OHL) | 03/17/1997 |
| Adam Brooks | F | Regina (WHL) | 05/06/1996 |
| Rich Clune | F | Toronto (AHL) | 04/25/1987 |
| Colin Greening | F | Toronto (AHL) | 03/09/1986 |
| Andreas Johnsson | F | Toronto (AHL) | 11/21/1994 |
| Kasperi Kapanen | F | Toronto (NHL) Toronto (AHL) | 07/23/1996 |
| Mason Marchment | F | Toronto (AHL) Orlando (ECHL) | 06/18/1995 |
| Trevor Moore | F | Toronto (AHL) | 03/31/1995 |
| Chris Mueller | F | Tucson (AHL) | 03/06/1996 |
| Kerby Rychel | F | Toronto (AHL) | 10/07/1994 |
| Ben Smith | F | Toronto (NHL) Colorado (NHL) | 07/11/1988 |
| Nikita Soshnikov | F | Toronto (NHL) Toronto (AHL) | 10/14/1993 |
| Dmytro Timashov | F | Toronto (AHL) | 10/01/1996 |
| Travis Dermott | D | Toronto (AHL) | 12/22/1996 |
| Justin Holl | D | Toronto (AHL) | 01/30/1992 |
| Timothy Liljegren | D | Rogle (SHL) Timra IK (Allsvenskan) | 04/30/1999 |
| Vincent LoVerde | D | Ontario (AHL) | 04/14/1989 |
| Martin Marincin | D | Toronto (NHL) | 02/18/1992 |
| Andrew Nielsen | D | Toronto (AHL) | 11/13/1996 |
| Michael Paliotta | D | Hartford (AHL) | 04/16/1993 |
| Rinat Valiev | D | Toronto (AHL) | 05/11/1995 |
| Kasimir Kaskisuo | G | Toronto (AHL) Orlando (ECHL) | 10/02/1993 |
| Garret Sparks | G | Toronto (AHL) | 06/28/1993 |
You can see a lot of familiar names. There are a few that aren’t there, and they haven’t (yet) shown up on the transfer list to Orlando. The Marlies haven’t announced any moves as part of this roster reveal either.
Martins Dzierkals, Call Heeter, Alex Gudbranson, Jean Dupuy and Max Novak were not part of the last round of cuts to Orlando, and they aren’t here on this roster. All are on AHL contracts, and we can assume they’ve been sent down. In Dzierkals’ case that is a bit of a surprise since the above roster of 14 forwards is very small for the AHL.
This marks a change from last year, when the Marlies carried a lot of players who saw little ice time. If they are moving those players down to Orlando to start the season, it seems like more people will play in more games, and that’s good overall. But this roster is at risk of being too small if injuries hit the forward corps or if call ups to the Leafs become necessary.
This Marlies squad is a strong one, with a lot of balance through the lineup. There’s a few areas where they are missing some punch, namely at centre, but we’ll get to see how well Ben Smith can do at the job. Is he Mark Arcobello class or no? Maybe Chris Mueller is.
The Marlies open their season at home tomorrow night against the Utica Comets.
