With the Summer Olympics in Rio drawing to a close and the Jimmy Vesey saga in the rear view mirror, we are that much closer to hockey being back and a daily part of our lives. There are still unresolved questions yet to be answered for the Toronto Maple Leafs regarding their roster.
It’s time to go to the world of Twitter and the comments section of my column to answer your questions.
A – The Maple Leafs do not know which forwards are going to make their opening night roster and will have some difficult decisions after what is expected to be a vigorous and competitive training camp next month.
Players that are on the bubble are those who would have to clear waivers to be demoted back to the American Hockey League but they might make the team over those who have options to go back to the Marlies. The likes of Connor Brown, Brendan Leipsic or Kasperi Kapanen will have to really impress to beat out Josh Leivo or Peter Holland.
If Mitch Marner is successful at making the jump to the NHL from the OHL, that will be one less spot that might go to veteran or a Marlies forward.
Q - .HOHO. from the comments asks “Now that the "Vesey Gongshow" is over, how do the Leafs clear their logjam upfront and who do they target to solidify their defense?
A – Talking about the blueline, Toronto GM Lou Lamoriello will likely be looking for an opportunity over the course of the season to add a defensemen who can play in the top four, but the plan at the outset of the season may be more focused on evaluating newcomers Nikita Zaitsev, Connor Carrick and Frank Corrado to see where they fit in the scheme of things.
Eklund wrote about the Leafs potentially pursuing Kevin Shattenkirk, but the fact that the Blues defenseman is one year away from unrestricted free agency and that Toronto is a team in transition might give Lamoriello pause to deal the package of picks and prospects necessary to obtain someone who could walk away next summer.
A – The Leafs have to expose two forwards and one defenseman who are under contract and play 40 games next season or 70 games combined between last and next season.
Joffrey Lupul is a prime candidate for this, (if he can play 24 games or more this season) as the Leafs would be happy to shed his $5.25 Million cap hit. The other candidate might be Leivo, (who signed a two-year deal last month) but he would have to make the NHL club and play more than 40 games.
Martin Marincin and Carrick signed two-year deals this summer, so whichever defenseman is least impressive will likely be made available.
A – Valiev is the youngest of the trio, is waiver exempt and went pointless in 10 games with the Leafs last season, so it is likely that he begins to season in the AHL.
Loov is a blueliner with size and plays with physicality, which is a commodity that the big club does not have in large supply, but Carrick is a superior skater and was impressive creating offense during the Calder Cup Playoffs last spring.
Going into training camp, of the three that you listed, Carrick has the inside track.
A - If the Leafs were waiting to see if they would have to use a contract to sign Jimmy Vesey, that reason is now past. Jhonas Enroth is still unsigned and unlike most of the other available free-agent goaltenders, the former Sabre would require a one-year contract instead of a tryout invite.
If Enroth is the target, his signing should happen fairly soon. If Toronto waits, than the tryout route or a trade is their likely course of action.
A - Unknown at this point, but all I can say it he/she has a tough act to follow.
A - Those are the only options that Marner will consider. The 19-year-old is focused on being strong enough to make a legitimate run at making the Leafs out of training camp, but the OHL, CHL and Memorial Cup MVP indicated this summer that if he did not make the NHL, he would go back to the London Knights to try to win a second straight Memorial Cup.
A - I expect Toronto to be much improved from last season, but there will be a lot of growing pains with a roster heavily populated with youngsters. Going .500 would be a realistic goal, but competing for a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference would be overly optimistic.
A - There should not be much drama in getting Jeremy Bracco and JJ Piccinich signed, but next month's rookie tournament in London, ON may go a long way to determine whether late round picks Stephen Desrocher and Nikita Korostelev get signed to entry-level deals.
In spite of Toronto being pretty tight to the 50 contract limit, space will likely open up later in the season when pending UFA's Brooks Laich, Milan Michalek, Roman Polak, Matt Hunwick and Colin Greening are shopped closer to the trade deadline.
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