There’s something about Stalberg.

The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs had a big Swede who could skate and shoot like this they had a very special player.  I know, no one should be confusing Viktor Stalberg with Mats Sundin, but there are certainly some similarities.

When Stalberg arrived at training camp out of U.S. College hockey he made a bit of a splash.  His preseason scoring had fans excited about the 6’3”, 200 lbs. left winger.  In their infinite wisdom the Leafs brass decided they were going to be a competitive team, based on what evidence I still can’t fathom.  Stalberg and other promising Leafs rookies were banished to the American League to prove themselves while the same cast of 3^rd liners filled out the roster.

Somewhere on the way to the playoffs someone finally realized there wasn’t going to be any.  It’s a revelation that should have been identified at about the 20 game mark, but sometimes when you’re the leader you have to buy what you’re selling.

Finally after a number of brief call ups to play on the 4^th line Stalberg is finally getting a chance to play enough to get a handle on the NHL game.  He figured the AHL out with ease and didn’t complain about the demotion.  It’s a small thing, but attitude problems are important to identify too, so there may have been some method to the madness in the Toronto management suite.

While in the “A” Stalberg put up a respectable 33 points in 39 games.  Those numbers likely would have been better if he wasn’t bouncing back and forth between the Leafs and Marlies.  In 25 games Stalberg has only put up modest totals in the NHL tallying 5 goals and 2 assists, but you really have to look past the numbers in part because he’s only averaging 14 minutes of ice time per-game and much less in his early call-ups.

What you notice in Stalberg’s game is that he can flat out skate and is extremely hard to contain down low because of his reach and size.  He also carries the puck through the neutral zone extremely effectively and defenders are forced to give him a little space because of his ability to blow past them if they don’t respect his speed and puck handling skill.  On top of that, the 23-year-old can really shoot the puck.  He looks dangerous on just about every shift and he’s a player that is noticeable out there.

Stalberg should be on the Leafs roster to stay for the remainder of the season and over the next few games his confidence will grow as he gets used to a regular shift on the team.  If he’d had more time in Toronto Maple Leafs line-up earlier he’d be that much further ahead next year, which is what the Leafs have been about from the start of this year even if they weren’t prepared to admit it.  That means he may go unnoticed coming into the 2010-11 Season, but he won’t for long.