It was another split weekend of games for the Marlies. Like last weekend, they lost on Saturday and then won on Sunday, but this time they were playing against the same team, the Charlotte Checkers.

I am still mentally stuck on the Checkers being the affiliates of the nearby Carolina Hurricanes, but they in fact ended their long running arrangement in the summer of 2020. Not helping is the fact that Skyler Brind'Amour is on the Checkers, the son of Rod, who happens to be the Hurricanes head coach.

The status now is the Checkers are affiliated with the Florida Panthers, and that had an impact on the game on Saturday. Starting in net was Spencer Knight who you may recall from earlier this year when he suddenly took leave from the NHL to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program but he has now reached a point where the Panthers have assigned him to the AHL to reboot his career.

Knight is still a rare goalie drafted in the first round, one of only six goalies taken in the first round in the past ten years by y count, Ilya Samsonov being another one of those six by the way. Knight definitely still looked on top of his game and I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it back up to the Panthers soon, though they are stuck with Bobrovsky earning his $10M cap hit through July 1 2026.

Marlies Lines

Here's how the team stacked up the lines for the two games.

It was another split weekend of games for the Marlies. Like last weekend, they lost on Saturday and then won on Sunday, but this time they were playing against the same team, the Charlotte Checkers.

I am still mentally stuck on the Checkers being the affiliates of the nearby Carolina Hurricanes, but they in fact ended their long running arrangement in the summer of 2020. Not helping is the fact that Skyler Brind'Amour is on the Checkers, the son of Rod, who happens to be the Hurricanes head coach.

The status now is the Checkers are affiliated with the Florida Panthers, and that had an impact on the game on Saturday. Starting in net was Spencer Knight whom you may recall from earlier this year when he suddenly took leave from the NHL to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program but he has now reached a point where the Panthers have assigned him to the AHL to reboot his career.

Knight is still a rare goalie drafted in the first round, one of only six goalies taken in the first round in the past ten years by y count, Ilya Samsonov being another one of those six by the way. Knight definitely still looked on top of his game and I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it back up to the Panthers soon, though they are stuck with Bobrovsky earning his $10M cap hit through July 1

Here's how the team stacked up the lines for the two games.

Only a handful of tweaks were made for the weekend, mostly to depth players to accommodate the tough schedule of three games in four days—the third game is tonight, more on that below—though there was the interesting swap of Tverberg and Blandisi.

Roni Hirvonen continued to sit out due to an upper body injury.

Game Highlights

I'll plop in one fun highlight from each game before I get to a handful of comments on specific players below.

Saturday: Checkers 3 - Marlies 2

Joe Blandisi was working really hard all weekend, starting with setting up the first MArlies goal against the Checkers with one great wrist shot.

Then he setup this short handed goal for new Marlies player Josiah Slavin.

Sunday: Marlies 4 - Checkers 2

Topi Niemelä scored the first goal of the game with a rocket and it was a hilarious setup by Zach Solow catching the Checkers totally off guard.

Here's an alternate angle.

Player Notes

Nick Robertson

Everyone is talking about Nick Robertson. While he was left off the scoresheet on Saturday, he did give us a heart attack when he was elbowed to the head and went down on the ice, and while he got up under his own power he immediately went to the locker room. Fortunately, it turned out to be only precautionary, and he came back in the game.

He did add to his scoring total on Sunday with this 5-on-3 power play goal. It was his third goal of the season, and combined with his three assists from the prior weekend, he know leads the team with six points in four games.

He's attracting a lot of attention now by sitting on the Marlies with his advancement to the Leafs blocked. Robertson still has great value as a prospect, and given the media chatter now I can only imagine that means the Leafs have at least put feelers out on him to get a sense of his value. I'd rather Robertson stay here, as said in the Top 25 I still believe in him, but it's starting to feel like a door has been opened which won't be closed again until a deal is done

Zach Solow

Who doesn't love the guy who loves just playing the game? Solow was never drafted but has since played in both the ECHL and AHL for the Growlers and the Marlies. He has an infectious optimism and high-octane play style that well in the Marlies depth. His assist on the Niemelä goal Sunday was well earned, and he certainly pumped up the crowd with his fight on Saturday. Coach Gruden noted whenever he hears a ruckus in the locker room he asks Solow "why is it [every time] I hear someone it's always you?" He added he appreciates his contributions to the whole atmosphere of the team, saying "he has that energy, and it's contagious, and I like it. How he is off the ice is how he is on the ice."

Alex Steeves

Alex Steeves scored the second goal of Sunday's game. He's still quietly determined to put himself in that tier of players ready to get a call-up, and hopefully longer than the three games he has had for the past two season. Is he an "AAAA" player, or and NHL player in waiting? He had 19 goals and 32 assists in his 65 regular season games last year for the Marlies, so he's a tough one to figure out, but now well over 23 years-old things need to happen fast for him.

Next Game

The Marlies have rare visit from the Milwaukee Admirals for a game tonight at 7:00 p.m.. It will be their last home game for some weeks as they vacate the Coliseum for the Royal Winter Fair. The team won't be back in Toronto until November 18. In the meantime they will hop over to Belleville this weekend, and then go off to Laval, and they make a swing around Lake Michigan to play in Milwaukee and Grand Rapids.

Toronto Marlies