The Leafs have kept Denis Malgin out of the lineup for the past three games. This is somewhat of an interesting development given that Calle Jarnkrok has been out of the lineup and the path back into the Leafs lineup should have been an easy one for Malgin. Instead, the Leafs have opted to bring in Wayne Simmonds or to give Semyon Der-Arguchintsev his NHL debut, while continuing to try Nick Robertson as much as possible as well. Malgin is establishing himself as the odd man out, and it’s not without reason.
Malgin’s start to the season was strong. He was a high-energy presence in the bottom six and his 2 goals and 2 assists through the first 11 games of the season seemed like a reasonable bottom-six production, the 3 points in his first 7 games looked even better, but when you look now to no production in 7 games and 1 assist in 11 games that is not going to cut it as an undersized forward who should primarily bring some offensive energy to the defense-first group.

What has been interesting is that Malgin has been getting chances and perhaps it is with the increasing ice time that Malgin is strug …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation