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The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed defenseman Martin Marincin on waivers. The 25-year-old defenseman was called out by head coach Mike Babcock at the start of training camp to perform more consistently, after the blueliner played only 25 games last season and made noticeable mistakes when forced into action in the first round series with Washington.
“(Marincin) can really skate, can pass the puck, does a lot of things, but he’s never really grabbed hold of (a job) yet. If you don’t eventually grab hold of it, you are not in the league anymore.… Babcock said. “Marty’s in a situation, with Rosen, Borgman and Carrick here, he’s battling for a job. One thing about the players, they’re smart, they know what’s going on. He knows the situation he’s in and so he’s got to have a good training camp."
If the lanky blueliner clears waivers, the Leafs will be able to bury all but $225,000 of Marincin's $1.25 Million salary, but with a low NHL salary, it is possible that a team thin on defense would put in a claim.
This move may be a precursor to the Leafs re-signing veteran Roman Polak to a one-year contract. Toronto released Polak from his professional tryout earlier this week but indicated that the blueliner would continue to practice with the club. There are indications that Polak will not stick around for a long time waiting before exploring other options and that may be a factor in this decision.
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The Maple Leafs offense was in mid-season form in the 7-2 win over Winnipeg on Wednesday, but if it weren’t for the goaltending of Frederik Andersen in the first period, the outcome of the season opener would have been quite different.
Toronto’s starter kept the Jets off the scoreboard, making 17 saves in the opening 20 minutes and surviving four Winnipeg power plays, but Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk and William Nylander scored in the span of 2:38 near the end of the period and silenced the crowd at Bell MTS Place.
Patrick Marleau shined on the night, scoring a pair of goals in his Leafs debut, Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists and Mitch Marner had a goal and helper.
“I thought we were able to battle through (a sluggish start). We made a few adjustments on our PK and we scored timely goals ourselves.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. It was a good night for our guys, a lot of our guys got off – you don’t have to worry about scoring goals when you score right away. So, you don’t have to worry about that, a lot of guys did that and a big win.…
Rookie defenseman Andreas Borgman registered his first NHL point (an assist on Matthews goal) and was +2 in the game, playing 16:34 in his NHL debut.
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