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The majority of offseason business happens within a very short couple of weeks. Re-signing or not qualifying players, running the draft, making trades, signing free agents, and then trading to try and fix everything up after. In that chaos this summer, we at PPP didn\u2019t notice William Villeneuve didn\u2019t have a contract until the Top 25 Under 25 process began. Could it have been an indication he was going to Europe? If the Leafs didn\u2019t want to sign him they wouldn\u2019t have qualified him. <\/p>\n It was an open question until a random weekday when the contract came in. My guess was that folks just went on vacation and figured they would get to it later. In the end, the contract is a two-way contract at league minimum in the NHL and $80k in the Minors. It isn\u2019t anything special and rightly doesn\u2019t indicate many NHL expectations for Villeneuve. I know a lot of clickbaity sites would make you think otherwise. <\/p>\n William Villeneuve Age as of July 1 Position Height Weight (lbs) Shoots Draft Year Draft Number At the present, the Leafs don\u2019t have a reason to drop Villeneuve. He played reasonably well in the AHL as an offensive defenceman who can move the puck on the power play. His defensive ability leaves a lot to be desired and he won\u2019t be perking the ears of NHL coaches, but he was playable. Another reason the Leafs are happy to keep him is because they don\u2019t have much in the name of AHL-playing defense prospects. It\u2019s Villeneuve, Cade Webber, and the freshman Noah Chadwick. We won\u2019t be seeing the likes of Ben Danford or Victor Johansson until at least next year. <\/p>\n The Player<\/p>\n As I said earlier, Villeneuve is an offensive defenseman who held the point on the first power play unit for the Marlies this season. His play defensively leaves a lot to be desired, but we\u2019ll get to that later. At the start of last season Villeneuve was on the outside of the Marlies defence group, skating as the 7th defenseman for a bit until he worked onto a pair with Dakota Mermis more permanently. That\u2019s the partner he spent most of the season with, but he also skated with Marshall Rifai, Webber, and Mikko Kokkonen. In many ways, Topi Niemel\u00e4\u2019s fall down the right side of the lineup was Villeneuve\u2019s gain as Villeneuve took over Niemel\u00e4\u2019s power-play duties and ice time next to a capable pro. Villeneuve is in many ways what many expected from Niemel\u00e4 at a modest AHL level. <\/p>\n Offensively, Villeneuve showed off a good shot that the power play used effectively for jumping on rebounds. He also showed off the occasional stretch pass, but zone exits and breakouts were a mixed bag for him. Skating and decision-making are big areas that hold Villeneuve back. He doesn\u2019t make plays quick enough for the AHL to be effective on either side of the puck. Offensively he relies on shooting the puck either at the net or into the corner and can\u2019t skate his way into open space along the blue line. <\/p>\n Defensively he relies on reaching with his stick to defend in the slot, he doesn\u2019t pressure opponents or use his body to separate the player from the puck or create space. He very much still plays a junior hockey style of defence even after three full seasons in the AHL. In a lot of ways Villeneuve was a lot like Justin Holl last season but at the AHL level; very useful as a #4 paired with a real #3 by supporting the offense and being sheltered away from a lot of the pressure going the other way. <\/p>\n He\u2019s useful, and usable if you have him, but that\u2019s been about it. It doesn\u2019t indicate to me that Villeneuve is on the path up to challenge for a job in the NHL. Right now, the Leafs do not have any defense prospects waiting in the wings only steps away from the NHL. They\u2019ve correctly filled that gap with established pros including Henry Thrun, Philippe Myers, (South) Dakota Mermis, Marshall Rifai, and Matt Benning. Five guys behind Simon Benoit to provide injury protection and competition. <\/p>\n Guys like Villeneuve and Webber, and probably someone like John Prokop aren\u2019t on that list of candidates. Right now, what\u2019s expected for them is to play competitive hockey for the Marlies. Whether they take a step up or down is entirely dependant on what happens In the hockey games, that\u2019s why we watch. <\/p>\n There aren\u2019t any highlight packs of Villeneuve last season (I would\u2019ve been surprised if there were), so I watched a lot of Marlies game highlight videos and picked a couple games thag I think encapsulate Villeneuve as well as I can. He\u2019s #76. <\/p>\n The first game has a fun goal from Greb (for Brigs) and a hat trick from A. Nylander (for us all). Villeneuve had his moments as well as showed his faults defensively in this one. Villeneuve had 4 assists in this game, his season high in points.<\/p>\n And in this video one clip has Villeneuve make a great stretch pass for a goal, and then the very next one he tangles with Mermis on a swap because of his skating to allow a goal. Villeneuve had 2 assists in this game.<\/p>\n The Votes<\/p>\n The spread of votes was wide for Villeneuve. One vote in the top 10, two votes outside the top 25, most votes in the teens. I think there\u2019s definitely a debate as to what the quality of the Marlies defense is and what it means to be the PP1 defender on that team. I remember when the Marlies had Calle Ros\u00e9n patrolling the ice for nearly half the game every night. He was an excellent marker for what it takes to be an AHL graduate to the NHL. The Leafs have some guys in the AHL who can step into a #6 job in a pinch, led by Myers who can do it quite well, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll have a prospect on the Marlies with NHL upside until Danford makes his way down the 401 and DVP from Oshawa. Maybe he takes the 427? God forbid he tries Avenue Road. You know what, the Lakeshore line will do just splendidly. <\/p>\n Voter Cathy Brigstew Species Hardev shinson93 Cameron Zone Entry Svalbard38 dhammm adam Weighted Average Highest Vote Lowest Vote The OpinionsBrigstew: Ah, William, my boy. The first prospect I wrote about in a profile that Toronto actually drafted. He\u2019s kind of the anti-Niemel\u00e4 in terms of the path he\u2019s taken. He had issues when he was chosen but he\u2019s made slow, steady improvements across the board every year for the past 5 years. By the end of last season he wound up being one of their better all around defenders, and arguably their best puck moving\/offensive defenseman. He\u2019s 23 now, so the time you can expect further improvements from him is likely at an end. I want to see him get an NHL game so bad, but I\u2019m not expecting it at this point.Shinson93: I have to agree that Villeneuve had his best AHL season so far, but was also a disaster when the playoffs came.\u00a0 His offense is good, but not elite and his defense is mediocre and seems to have difficulty gelling with any particular partner. At this point I\u2019m pretty convinced that his game doesn\u2019t translate to anything more, so I didn\u2019t rank him.Cathy: This is the wrong way to do this, but it\u2019s what I\u2019m doing with this player. I watched him in the Memorial Cup for full games and I ended up believing there was not even remotely enough defensive skills \u2013 or even skills at things that make defending happen less like entry denial \u2013 to consider him a player with a probability of success. He\u2019s not even a top defender in the AHL, no matter the pairing he played on the Marlies.\u00a0dhammm: William Villeneuve\u2019s come a long way since Elite Prospects said the Leafs \u201cmight as well have lit a draft pick on fire\u201d<\/a> by selecting him in the 4th round. Not sure if it\u2019s far enough for him to manage an NHL career, as the question facing Villeneuve at this point is if he even gets the chance, with the Leafs or with someone else, but unlike other defensemen for whom vision and puck-moving are strengths he\u2019s tall enough that he won\u2019t be filtered out immediately. I also wasn\u2019t expecting Berube to see a player in Conor Timmins in camp last year, but by gum, he did. I can still more easily fathom Villeneuve eking out a career at the NHL level than I can most candidates for this year\u2019s T25U25, even if his time to make good on my optimism is running out.Svalbard38: I ranked Villeneuve 14th, which is probably a bit higher than he deserves, largely because he\u2019s something we don\u2019t have in great quantity, an offensive defenceman on the Marlies. He led the D corps with 40 points, almost doubling up on Topi (2nd place with 22) and almost tripling up on Mikko Kokkonen (3rd with 14), and both of them are going to Sweden in the upcoming season. I\u2019m looking for a step up defensively from Villeneuve, he\u2019s not quite in \u201cis what he is\u201d territory but he\u2019s drawing close and he\u2019s got to prove that his all-around game still has NHL potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n Where did you rank Villeneuve? And what do you think the addition of Noah Chadwick will have on the depth chart?<\/p>\n PPP Runs on Your Support<\/p>\n
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