As the new kid in town, Alexander Kerfoot says he’s still able to fly under the radar while walking the streets of Toronto.
But considering the way he’s opened the season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he won’t be going unnoticed for long.
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On a team brimming with elite talent up front, it’s the third line that’s caught the attention of many in Leafs Land, and Kerfoot is earning plenty of praise at the centre of it. And rightly so.
The trio of Kerfoot, Trevor Moore and Ilya Mikheyev has struck early chemistry and gives the Maple Leafs’ lineup something it’s been lacking in recent years: depth scoring, with a little more sandpaper.
“I think that we’re still getting to know each other more and more but they’re such good hockey players that it’s easy to play with them,” Kerfoot said Wednesday during an appearance on Hockey Central, when asked about his new linemates.
“Their details are so good, they’re both fast and win a lot of puck battles and I’m just trying to feed off of them and get into open space so they can get me the puck and I can get them the puck in the right spots.”
The combination of Kerfoot’s speed, Moore’s grit and Mikheyev’s all-of-the-above skillset has resulted in a trio of points for each player through the club’s first four games.
“We’re all on the same page right now, we’re trying to keep things simple and just play in the offensive zone as much as we can,” he said.
The effectiveness of all three players has already prompted plenty of theories about where else these versatile skaters might slot in within the lineup.
Kerfoot, who came to Toronto as part of the deal that sent Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche, has primarily played centre but can play on the wing, too, giving head coach Mike Babcock even more options should he choose to change things up. Kerfoot said he’s open to either position.
“I’m comfortable at centre for sure,” he said. “Four years in college, I played centre the whole time there and I played a lot of centre in Colorado so I’m comfortable there but I’ve also played enough on the wing the last couple years that I’m comfortable there as well. Wherever they want me to play, I’m happy there, but I would say I probably feel more comfortable at centre.”
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