Long Island native Jeremy Bracco decided a few weeks after being selected by Toronto in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft that he would honor his commitment to play for Boston College University over playing in the Ontario Hockey League.
Five games into his freshman year, the diminutive 18-year-old forward is leaving the Eagles and is likely to join the Kitchener Rangers, who hold his OHL rights.
Leafs Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter indicated after selecting Bracco 61st overall no preference where the speedy winger decided to play, but a long and drawn out process over the summer before finally committing to Boston College was indicative of some desire on Bracco to play in the OHL.
Bracco is the second draft choice of the Shanahan era to bolt the NCAA after a year or less. 2014 draftee JJ Piccinich left Boston University to join the OHL’s London Knights after his freshman year due to limited playing time and opportunity.
Piccinich is thriving in London, with eight goals and seven assists in 10 games playing on the wing with Leafs top pick Mitch Marner and 2016 top prospect Matthew Tkachuk.
One factor in the decision of both Piccinich and Bracco is to reduce the time frame of being signed to a pro contract. Both players would have to wait up to four years after being drafted had they remained in the NCAA, but moving to the OHL cuts that in half. Piccinich will have to be signed to an NHL entry-level contract by next June or will go back into the draft and Bracco will need to be signed before June 2017.
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The roster shuffle made by the Maple Leafs on Tuesday is another signal that the club is laying the groundwork for trades later in the season where taking on salary will be necessary to obtain young prospects or high draft picks.
In a column written over the summer, one option that Toronto’s management team was likely to explore was the use of the club’s vast financial resources and the flexibility given to them by placing injured winger Nathan Horton’s contract on long term injured reserve to create more cap space to take on salary from other teams to add assets.
"We've got some cap space, we're a popular team for teams to call, when they're trying to move some big contracts and for us, if it fits with what we're doing we're going to do it.…Leafs Assistant GM Kyle Dubas said in July.
There is no reason to believe that this philosophy has changed with GM Lou Lamoriello coming on board. The Leafs call up of winger Casey Bailey and demotion of center Byron Froese on Tuesday was all cap related. Bailey’s $912,500 salary brought Toronto to less than $100,000 from the $71.4 Million salary limit.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston indicates that with Horton’s deal being moved to LTIR, the Leafs now have $5.2 Million in available cap space and plenty of flexibility leading up to the February 29th trade deadline.
This room may be quite invaluable down the stretch when contending teams like Tampa Bay, Washington, New York, Los Angeles or St. Louis need to add one key player to help their run to the Cup but don’t have the cap space to do it.
In fact, the Leafs may have another avenue to create more space during the season, as veteran defenseman Stephane Robidas (currently on IR) and his $3 Million salary could be moved to LTIR as Horton was if his knee/groin injuries do not improve.
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