St. Catharines native making strong case to stay on Leafs’ blueline

Published September 28, 2023 at 10:31 am

St. Catharines native and Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Conor Timmins had two goals and two assists in last night's 5-2 exhibition win over Buffalo.

If Conor Timmins keeps going at his current pace, it would seem impossible to keep him off the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline when the season starts on Oct. 11.

Timmins, a St. Catharines native, had two goals and two assists in last night’s 5-2 exhibition game win over the Buffalo Sabres – Bobby Orr-like numbers for the 25-year-old defenceman picked up from the Arizona Coyotes last season.

In a previous 3-2 overtime loss to Ottawa, Timmins also notched a pair of assists, giving him six points in two games.

“He creates offence,” coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters after last night’s game. “He finds a way to set up (teammates) and we saw that from him last season as well.”

“When you have ability like he does, it’s a matter of consistency,” Keefe continued. “But there’s more (than offence) to playing the position, there’s being consistently reliable to break the puck out, defend and play against good players on other teams, so we don’t have to shelter him.

After he landed with the Leafs last season, Timmins showed he belonged with the club but didn’t see any playoff action after the Buds picked up defencemen Luke Schenn and Jake McCabe for the playoff drive.

However, Schenn and Justin Holl signed elsewhere in the summer and veteran Jake Muzzin’s continued designation on injured reserve gives Timmins a real shot as there are holes at the blueline.

Last night’s game was held at St. Thomas’ Joe Thornton Community Centre as the NHL’s annual Kraft Hockeyville game.

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