Is Pierre Engvall the real deal? What the stats and eye test say about the Maple Leafs’ surprising rookie

TORONTO, ON- SEPTEMBER 21 - Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Pierre Engvall (47) smiles after scoring as Rasmus Sandin embraces him as the Toronto Maple Leafs play their first pre-season home game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. September 21, 2018. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
By Ian Tulloch
Jan 15, 2020

The Toronto Maple Leafs have suffered quite a few injuries at left wing this season. But thanks to some surprising depth in their prospect pool, they’ve been able to overcome the loss of Andreas Johnsson, Ilya Mikheyev and Trevor Moore over the past few weeks. In their absence, Pierre Engvall has really stepped up and proven he can play in a top-nine role at the NHL level.

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So as James Mirtle likes to say, it’s time to open the Engvault.

In today’s article, we’re going to take a deep dive into Engvall’s game. He has such a fascinating combination of tools, so to help make things easier to follow, we’ll break them down into a few different sections.

Let’s start with my favourite element of his game.

Puck-moving ability

I’m going to bring up his size often in this article because there aren’t too many 6-foot-5 humans who can skate the way he can. His deceptively powerful skating stride often catches opposing defences off guard, giving Engvall that extra step he needs to beat his man and create something dangerous off the rush.

Transition is the name of the game these days. Most goals come right after a successful zone entry, which is why you want speedy puck carriers who can gain the zone and make a play after crossing the blue line. We’ll dive into Engvall’s offensive zone play later in the article, but for now, let’s focus on his ability to get there with his puck-moving ability.

One of the things he does better than any other Leaf is sense when to “reload” on the breakout. What I mean by that is he’s able to recognize when the other team has more players back than he has with him, such as a 2-on-3 or 1-on-2, so he circles back into open ice and restarts the breakout with multiple passing options.

From his first game with the big club, you could tell that he had played for Sheldon Keefe before. Engvall clearly understands the emphasis on puck possession Keefe has been trying to instill with the Leafs since taking over for Mike Babcock on Nov. 20. If nothing is available, Keefe wants his players to hold onto the puck, wait for support, and then head up the ice as a five-man unit.

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We’ve seen this a lot on line changes, where Toronto will take the puck back into its own end instead of the “dump and change.” What’s interesting is that Engvall has been one of the team’s most confident players at reloading the breakout in the middle of a regular shift. It’s something we’d expect to see from an elite puck-carrier like William Nylander or Mitch Marner, so the fact that a recent call-up has been doing it on the third line goes to show that you don’t need to be an elite talent to pull off these kinds of moves. It really comes down to confidence, which Engvall has in spades right now.

Neutral Zone Defence

When we’re evaluating players defensively, we tend to get caught up in defensive zone play. Don’t get me wrong, that part of the game certainly matters – it’s something Toronto clearly needs to clean up as a team – but the evidence tends to show that a player’s ability to control the neutral zone has a bigger impact on shots, scoring chances and goals. It’s a big part of the reason why Travis Dermott and Nylander have been so effective at tilting the ice in their team’s favour; they get the puck back thanks to their tight defence in the neutral zone, forcing a lot of turnovers and dump-ins.

In a similar fashion, Engvall’s defensive zone coverage is nothing to write home about, but his ability to take away space in the neutral zone has been stellar. His combination of length and athleticism reminds me of Pascal Siakam on the Toronto Raptors. Both players do a phenomenal job at closing the gap on opponents, with Siakam launching his 7-foot-3 wingspan towards the nearest shooter, whereas Engvall comes flying full-speed towards the puck-carrier in the neutral zone with his long stick.

It’s hard to describe how annoying that is to play against. It’s one thing when Trevor Moore is on your tail all game, but when you take that same effort on the backcheck and extend that player’s stick length (and neck) an extra six inches, that’s the difference between a turnover and a clean entry. It’s part of the reason why Mikheyev was such a disruptive force when he applied pressure to opposing puck carriers. When you combine size, speed, strength and a relentless motor without the puck, you’re going to be a pain in the ass to play against.

This has been most noticeable on the penalty kill, where Engvall has been a revelation this season. The Leafs have him hopping over the boards on PK2, with his team set up in a neutral zone trap. That’s where Engvall is at his best. He’s so good at forcing turnovers with a combination of speed and length, which has led to quite a few chances the other way.

Dom Luszczyszyn had a great section on Engvall in his 16 Stats column a few weeks ago where he broke down how Engvall had the best penalty kill numbers in the NHL. Some of that comes down to context – it’s much easier for players on PK2 to prevent scoring chances – but it’s worth noting that Engvall still leads the league in expected goal share (xGF%) on the penalty kill. He isn’t allowing many chances thanks to his stellar neutral zone defence and he’s generating a ton of offence the other way.

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You gotta love the power kill.

Heavy wrist shot

Watching Engvall play with the Marlies after joining the team in 2017, this was always the first thing that came to mind when I thought of him. Tall guy, huge neck, and one heck of a wrist shot. It was always surprising to me how much power he was able to get off on it despite not really loading up for it.


Considering how valuable he was on the Marlies’ power play, I’m surprised he hasn’t been tested out on PP2 with the Leafs. They have Jason Spezza playing the Jeremy Bracco role as the primary puck handler on the right wall, with Alexander Kerfoot set up on the left wall. The coaching staff probably values Kerfoot’s ability to make the cross-seam pass, but I’d be curious what the unit would look like if the Leafs could find a way to make Engvall’s heavy wrister a focal point. With Morgan Rielly and Spezza on the perimeter, you’d have to think they could get Engvall into open space for some quality scoring opportunities.

After all, he has been one of Toronto’s most productive offensive players this season.

Data from Natural Stat Trick

Now, there are a few caveats worth bringing up here. Realistically, we shouldn’t expect him to keep scoring twice as many goals as “expected” based on his shot locations. He’s currently shooting over 16 percent at even strength when we’d expect a league-average shooter to be scoring on closer to eight percent of those shots. Personally, I’d make the argument that he’s an above-average finisher, but even then we’d have to admit that he’s had a nice run of puck-luck so far this season. Unless your name is Auston Matthews, a shooting percentage of 16 percent just isn’t sustainable at even strength.

When it comes to Engvall’s playmaking, I think it might be legit. Again, for a lanky guy with his frame, I find myself surprised by how many creative passes he’s able to pull off in tight spaces.

Here’s another one of my favourite passes I was able to withdraw from the Engvault.

We tend not to think of Engvall as a playmaker, but he’s a crafty passer. He does most of his damage in transition, but when Toronto gets set up in the offensive zone, he’s a player teams have to respect from distance. That opens up passing lanes to more dangerous areas of the ice. As we saw last night, Engvall has the vision to find his teammates with a backdoor feed when those opportunities present themselves.

That’s not a play Kasperi Kapanen has been able to make with consistency alongside talented linemates, which is what makes Engvall so intriguing. If he can keep making high-level plays like this, it could force the Leafs into some difficult decisions, especially over the summer.

When we add everything up, what does that make Pierre Engvall?

Frankly, it’s still a bit early to make that assessment – he’s only played 25 games at the NHL level – but I tend to be higher than most on Engvall’s upside. His tools make me wonder if he can hang in the top half of the lineup, full-time. He’s already producing at a top-six rate, but you have to think that some shooting percentage regression will drop him down closer to “middle six” production (somewhere between a second and third liner) which is where most of us see him right now.

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There’s nothing wrong with being a third-line winger. That has a lot of value on a cheap contract, which the Leafs should be able to sign him to after this season considering his lack of experience at the NHL level. He’s always going to have value on the penalty kill with his speed and long reach, so the question comes down to whether or not he can keep producing in the top six and potentially chip in on PP2. Alongside talented players, I think a player with his skillset can provide value there, but it’s going to be hard for him to displace puck-hounds like Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson, and Ilya Mikheyev in a healthy lineup.

It remains to be seen if the Soupman will be back at full strength in time for the playoffs, but considering how well Engvall has played in an expanded role, it’s forcing a lot of us to ask whether one of Johnsson or Kapanen could become expendable in a trade for a defenceman. That’s a topic we could dive into in a separate article, but it’s a question we have to be asking at this point. Engvall’s been that good this season.

And before we get out of here, I wanted to show one final clip highlighting the impact Toronto’s lanky Swede can have on the game when he puts all of his tools together. It’s super fun to watch.

He has the confidence to skate the puck into open space, fire his heavy wrister on net when he has a shooting lane, and he’s always tracking down loose pucks with his long stick and surprisingly quick feet. When Engvall finds a way to combine all of his above-average qualities as a hockey player, it results in dominant shifts like these.

I’m not sure how Thommie Bergman keeps doing it, but it looks like he and the Leafs’ scouting department have found another steal in the seventh round from Sweden.

(Top photo: Steve Russell/Getty Images)

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Ian Tulloch

Ian Tulloch is a hockey contributor for The Athletic Toronto whose main focus is bridging the gap between the eye test and analytics. He’s the host of The Leafs Geeks Podcast, appears regularly on Sportsnet 590, and has been writing at The Nation Network for the past year. Follow Ian on Twitter @IanGraph