Nobody expected Fraser Minten to start the 2023-24 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not even Minten himself.
Drafted in the second round just a year prior, Minten was a long shot heading into camp. But some good showings in the preseason – plus the team’s cap crunch, which always shows up to kick a new campaign – allowed him to play a four-game stretch in the bottom six to get his feet wet in the NHL.
“Every time you get some touches in here, you get a little more comfortable,” Minten told reporters at Leafs development camp earlier this month about his short stint in the big leagues. “Just being able to have some experience at that level will help me feel more comfortable.”
Minten was loaned back to the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers after failing to register a point in four games. The whole idea was to give him more experience against top-level competition before letting him break loose back against his own age group. He immediately put up 10 points in seven games with the Blazers before the team moved their captain to Saskatoon in the fall, hoping to chase a Memorial Cup experience. Minten had 19 goals and 38 points in 36 games, primarily playing with Leafs draft pick Brandon Lisowsky. The Blazers came short in the playoffs, but Minten capped off his fourth major junior season with 14 points in 16 playoff games – two behind his output from his draft year.
Minten also served as Canada’s captain in his lone World Junior Championship appearance, posting a modest three points in five games as the team’s championship streak ended after two years.
Now, the 20-year-old is set for his first full season of pro hockey. It’ll likely be with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, but Minten will push for more. Another good showing at training camp could go a long way in Minten making the roster again for Game 1, with the potential of sending back to get more ice time at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Minten doesn’t want to rush anything, though. He wants to make the best first impression, and whatever happens, happens.
“I don’t know if there are any expectations,” Minten said. “The expectation isn’t based on results for me. It’s on just how hard I’m going to work and leave everything out there. These guys have been at this level watching and playing for way longer than I have, so they’ll know if I’m ready or not.”
Minten isn’t projected to be a top-six forward. If anything, his energy, reliability, and two-way play make him a perfect bottom-six option, and that’s fine. At 6-foot-2, the Vancouver, B.C. native plays a physical game, and he realized he’ll need to keep getting better at it to be an effective NHLer.
“You see it on TV, how big and strong and fast and consistent everybody is. You really feel it when you’re out there,” Minten said. “Just how dialed you have to be every day and how consistent you have to be as a player. Any sort of mess up could be a reason for you to be out of a job at that level. Just the consistency at which guys are able to be fast, be strong and do all the right things.”
Regardless of what route Minten takes, the 2024-25 year is all about learning. He won’t be one of the most dominant forces on the ice anymore, so he’ll need to adjust to that. It’s all about honing in the details in his game and becoming as useful as possible in as many facets as possible. That’s how you make yourself indispensable, and Minten knows that.
“I think it’s good to challenge yourself,” Minten said. “It’s better to do stuff that makes you go in awkward, hard situations than just sitting around and doing nothing all day. Going to the gym or going on the ice is fun.”
