The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering the second week of training camp and will be playing back-to-back exhibition games against the Sabres in St. Catharines, ON and Buffalo on Thursday and Friday.
2015 top pick Mitch Marner impressed in the club’s first game in Ottawa with a pair of assists and first overall selection Auston Matthews is expected to make his debut in one of the games against Buffalo, but the makeup of the Leafs 23-man roster will be determined by who stands out over the next two weeks.
Plenty of questions to be answered from readers and followers on Twitter, so away we go:
A – I will go on a limb and say that Matthews never plays in the AHL, unless it is for an injury rehab stint.
Ironically the 2016 top pick would be eligible to play for the Marlies, in spite of being 19 years old because he never played in the CHL and played last season in Europe, as was the case for William Nylander before he came to Toronto in January 2015.
Marner cannot play in the American Hockey League as a 19-year-old because he has junior eligibility and is not 20 years old. If Marner was eligible to play for the Marlies, the odds would be much higher that he would start the season in the AHL as Nylander did last year.
A – The Leafs are not holding Marner to the standard of standing on his head to make the club, but they are looking for him to be responsible defensively, creative offensively and withstand the physical pounding that is consistent with NHL regular-season hockey.
Unless Marner shows that he is clearly not ready during the exhibition schedule, he will get nine NHL games to start of the season and might get to the halfway point of the year before the club makes a decision on whether he stays for the remainder of the season or get sent back to the OHL.
A – Because the need for defenseman and the likelihood of getting claimed off of waivers is high, the Leafs will probably keep eight defensemen on their 23-man roster.
The contenders for bottom pairing spots (Martin Marincin, Frank Corrado, Connor Carrick) all would have to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL, whereas most of the forwards competing for a roster spot are still waiver exempt.
That fact allows Toronto to send players like Connor Brown, Brendan Leipsic or Kasperi Kapanen to the AHL and recall them when needed.
The Leafs would prefer to keep young blueliners such as Andrew Nielsen and Travis Dermott down on the farm for most of the season to gain experience instead of shuttling back and forth from the Marlies, which they might have to do if they lost Carrick or Corrado on waivers.
A – The Leafs do not need to make a five-for-one deal similar to the trade for Michael Grabner last September, since the primary motivation for that trade was to clear professional contracts and give the club room under the 50 man contract limit.
Toronto has nine players who are unrestricted free agents at the end of this season and really do not have many players from the previous administrations that they want to dispose of.
The more likely path for a trade would be to upgrade at a certain position by trading two or three assets for one. A top-four defenseman is something that the Leafs could definitely use their quality organizational depth to acquire.
A – There was no release from the Leafs regarding the health of Horton (who has a degenerative back problem), but the club has to confirm his status before every season to make sure that he can legitimately be placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR).
My assumption is that was done and since Toronto is over the $73 Million salary cap, that Horton will be placed on LTIR just before the beginning of the regular season.
A – Based on how impressive he was for Team Russia during the World Cup of Hockey, Nikita Zaitsev should be a factor in the Leafs top-four this seasom and if it were my choice, pairing him with Morgan Rielly makes the most sense.
Zaitsev may be an NHL rookie, but he is 24 years old, played seven seasons in the KHL, can play both special teams and is a right-handed shot.
That would be a better fit with the left-handed Rielly, who played at times on the right side when teamed with Matt Hunwick or Jake Gardiner.
A – There is no way to know how interested the Leafs are in Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba or what the odds are that they get him, but based on the fact that Toronto does not have a right-hand shot defenseman signed to a long-term deal, they should be very interested.
Zaitsev is right-handed and appears to be a promising prospect, but is only signed for one year. Roman Polak is a stopgap placeholder and could be traded again when the deadline comes around and Connor Carrick has promise, but is not guaranteed to make the roster.
Winnipeg is looking for comparably aged, left-handed defenseman (which is not readily available in the league) so they may have to take adjust their sights if they want to get a trade done and avoid a holdout.
A – Yes, they do. The Leafs are currently at 48 pro contracts, but could be down to 47 if an independent arbitrator rules that their buyout of defenseman Jared Cowen is legitimate.
A – Taking the list of five players, Valiev got a taste of the NHL last season, did not look out of place and can play at both ends of the ice. Loov is not as good offensively, but likes to use his size and lay out some punishment.
Nielsen and Dermott are entering their first professional season and have different but promising skill sets. Carrick was the Marlies best offensive blueliner in the playoffs last season and his skating and powerful shot may earn him a bottom pairing spot with the Leafs this season.
All could see time in the NHL(Leafs or elsewhere) within the three-year window you specified. My ranking would be 1) Nielsen, 2) Dermott, 3)Carrick, 4) Valiev and 5) Loov.
A – If he breaks any more panes, Lou Lamoriello will start docking his pay.
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Here is the Leafs lineup vs Buffalo on Thursday at the Meridian Center in St. Catharines:
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