I haven't made it a secret that I think Tyler Bozak would be a nice fit on the Penguins third line for the upcoming season. His playing strengths are on the offensive side of things and that is the route I like to take when you have enough capable wingers to spread throughout the lineup.

Bozak's name has been bandied about in trade rumors for a couple of years now and he enters the 2017-18 season as a pending unrestricted free agent. In James Mirtle's opinion he is not likely to return to the team.

In defence of Zach Hyman and his new contract with the Leafs https://t.co/pXPJbDHiEv

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) July 7, 2017

Especially with all three of James van Riemsdyk, Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak in the final year of their deals — and only Komarov likely to come back — the Leafs are going to have holes opening up front. Especially at left wing. They're going to need penalty killers and ditch diggers.

Carl Hagelin fits the bill, but here's the real problem from what I see. Who is Tyler Bozak's replacement for Toronto? They aren't content just building for the future anymore. They didn't sign Patrick Marleau to a ridiculous three-year contract so that they could maybe compete. They are trying to win right now. Without a suitable third line center replacement for Bozak they would be taking a fairly large step back. Here's a look at their depth chart courtesy of Daily Faceoff



They didn't sign Dominic Moore to be their third line center. That is asking quite a bit from the 36 year old veteran center. As far as I know there isn't a center prospect in their system that is just going to step in and take those minutes.

I did however reach out to Steve Burtch of Sportnet to see if there was anything I was overlooking and there was.

He told me that one move the Maple Leafs could make to fill a Bozak void would be to move William Nylander to center. It is the position he played in Sweden and with the Toronto Marlies. The Maple Leafs had a similar approach with Nazem Kadri where they started him at wing and eventually shifted him to center. The only hang up with this idea is that Mike Babcock would have to trust him defensively in order to make that switch. Are they ready to do that? Babcock might be one of the best coaches in the league, but he isn't immune to the fear of trusting younger players in bigger roles outside of the obvious exceptions like Auston Matthews. You can look at how long it took players like Gustav Nyqvist and Tomas Tatar to carve out a regular NHL spot under Babcock despite putting up solid AHL numbers. Playing wing is one thing. Playing center under Babcock comes with a bigger stigma of responsibility.

This could be the reason that Jim Rutherford has expressed his willingness to be patient. Maybe he has to wait on the Maple Leafs to decide what they want to do with Nylander before they move Bozak in a trade.

I think Bozak would be a great fit in Pittsburgh. I just don't see how the Leafs can move him right now if Toronto does not acquire another NHL caliber center or if the Leafs hold off on moving Nylander to center.

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