Detroit Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek stops a Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Brandon Kozun breakaway shot in the first period of a NHL hockey game in Detroit Monday, Sept. 29.Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
The goal for every fringe player trying to make an NHL squad in the preseason is the same: make it as difficult as possible for management to send you down.
Brandon Kozun has all but made the decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs brass, capping his run as the darling of this year's exhibition campaign with a three-point performance in a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.
In the crowded field to make the Leafs as a bottom-six winger, the 5-foot-8 California native has stood above the rest, outplaying presumed candidates like Matt Frattin, Carter Ashton and Colton Orr. There's not much more he could do to prove he deserves a chance to start the regular season with the big club.
"Those decisions are out of my hands," Kozun said after the game when asked if he felt he'd done enough to make the team. "I'm just trying to get better. Hopefully I can help the team in any way possible."
Head coach Randy Carlyle described Kozun's preseason performance as "desperate."
"That's the word for it," Carlyle said. "He's making life difficult for the opposition and making life easy for the coaching staff and management to notice him."
His goal Friday night was a beautiful individual effort, tipping a pass from James van Riemsdyk past Detroit defenceman Niklas Kronwall before winning the race to the loose puck. He then cut to the Detroit net at a difficult angle and beat Jonas Gustavsson up high on his backhand. He also had the primary assist on Jake Gardiner's opener and used his quickness in the third period to force Gustavsson into an awkward turnover before feeding a pinching Dion Phaneuf at the top of the circle on the captain's second goal of the night.
"I've worked very hard to become an all-around player and a versatile player, " Kozun said. "I think I'm getting better every day, but there are still steps I can take.
"It's one thing to be able to play in exhibition games; it's another thing to play in regular season games; it's another thing to make this a career."
Kozun dressed in all six preseason Leaf games, tallying two goals and three assists. At just 167 pounds, the 24-year-old Los Angeles native doesn't have a lot of physicality in his game, but he does offer the Leafs something they've sorely lacked in their bottom six forwards in recent seasons: skill and speed.
He filled the net in junior, twice breaking the 100-point mark with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League. Undrafted as an 18-year-old in 2008, the Kings took him in the sixth round, 179th overall, at the 2009 entry draft.
Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in a deal for Andrew Crescenzi in January, Kozun entered camp as a guy ticketed to the AHL Marlies as a depth forward.
He's proven he can score at that level, notching 23, 20 and 26 goals in his first three professional seasons with the Manchester Monarchs. He scored 17 last season, including seven in 32 games with the Marlies after the trade to Toronto.
"When I watched the Marlies last year he was the player who stood out the most," Carlyle said. "He was easy to see. He was a guy that was on the puck. He's transferred that to the preseason and our training camp."
Now Kozan finds himself on the cusp of appearing in his first NHL regular season game. He said all the right things about taking nothing for granted Friday night, insisting he looks no further ahead than his next chance to get on the ice and prove he belongs.
Even a demotion to the Marlies won't deter him.
"If it happens it happens," Kozun said. "I'll go down there and work my hardest to get back to the level I want to be at."