Poulin 'fully confident' Brennan can be NHLer

With T.J. Brennan of the Marlies winning the AHL's outstanding defenceman of the year award, The Toronto Sun supposes the natural question would be why wasn't he called up to the Leafs?

“That was the plan,” Leafs VP of hockey operations Dave Poulin said. “And we signed him to a contract that allowed him, once he got through waivers, to provide depth for us at the top level. But through the course of the year, we literally didn’t have any (long-term) injuries amongst our defenceman. It’s unfortunate that T.J. didn’t get an opportunity. It was a challenge, without question, because he got off to just an absolutely crazy start and maintained that through the course of the season — a top-five scorer, a threat on a first-place team and a constant threat on the power play. He had just a tremendous year.”

The article goes into more detail on how the Leafs would have risked losing Brennan or another defenceman on waivers at some point had Brennan actually been called up.

Brennan will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and Poulin said the team is still evaluating its personnel.

“He’s still a young man who continues to round out his game and I’m fully confident that he can play in the NHL (as a full-time player),” Poulin said.

Source: Steve Buffery, Toronto Sun