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The National Hockey League is holding the annual Scouting Combine in Buffalo, NY for the first time in three years, as the 32 clubs get to interview and see prospects for the NHL Draft next month in Montreal.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have only three selections after trading their second-round pick in March for Mark Giordano, their fourth-rounder in the Nick Foligno trade last April, and lower picks last season for depth pieces David Rittich, Ben Hutton, and Riley Nash.
Toronto selects 25th overall and a number of players that Russ Cohen of Sportsology projected to be selected in that range spoke to the Leafs in Buffalo.
Most of the players spoke to nearly every club. Marco Kasper has played with Rogle in the SHL, and for his native Austria in the World Junior and World Championships. Rutger McGroarty is part of the US National Development Program and is committed to the University of Michigan, but spent a large chunk of his youth in Toronto and grew up a Leafs fan.
Slovakian winger Filip Mesar spoke to Toronto and he, along with a number of players commented on their interviewing process being different than other clubs. The Leafs presented a video presentation to the players, stopping it at a certain point in the clip to ask what the next move should be. Leafs GM Kyle Dubas may be looking to get more kicks at the can in Montreal, as the club may be trading some players off their roster to make room for upcoming prospects or to clear room on their salary cap. There is also a possibility that Dubas may emulate what he did in 2018, trading down to get extra selections.
With only three selections in 2021, Toronto potentially hit a home run with winger Matthew Knies and may have found another good prospect in fifth-rounder Ty Voit, so it would make sense for them to want more picks in a draft with a lot of uncertainty.
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