The Cobra, the soup-lover, Ilya Mikheyev, has been having quite an interesting season. After starting the year off with a long-term injury, and the team having regular success, it felt as if he was a bit of a spare part. Once he rejoined the team, though, it didn’t take long for him to re-establish a beloved lore about him. It’s not just that he’s got fun, quirky nicknames; he’s a lovable person who you want to have an affectionate inside name for.
The winger has been exceeding expectations especially of late, coming off a 3-point performance against Winnipeg on Thursday night. For a depth player, having 22 points in 38 games is pretty good. That’s a 47-point pace on an 82-game season. What’s more impressive is the Cy Young-winning numbers, as he’s put up a 20-2 performance, that being 20 primary points and only 2 secondary assists. Thanks to my colleague Mark Norman for that reference.
As my other colleague David Alter wrote recently:
“…while his future with the Maple Leafs is bleak given the raise he’s expected to command as a pending unrestricted free agent, this is the right time to see if Mikheyev can be the top-six left winger that the Leafs need ahead of the playoffs.”
Our editor Jon Steitzer had a bleaker take: Ilya Mikheyev’s next contract shouldn’t be much of a worry for the Maple Leafs because it probably won’t be with Toronto.
My original hypothesis when I started seeing his success was that he was riding a bit of a shooting perc …
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Author: Ryan Hobart / The Leafs Nation