The turnover in the Maple Leafs system over the past five seasons or so has been astronomical in terms of bodies in and out, roster wise and management.
Perhaps one of the biggest faults the Leafs had over this stretch was the mismanagement with the free buyouts. What was Nonis thinking when he bought out Komisarek with one of the two free buyouts each team was given, he wasn’t. He also elected to buyout Mikhail Grabovski who was a player that did it all from scoring goals, to spinnerama shootout winners, fighting Chris Neil or biting Max Pacioretty.
These mistakes were obvious to many as Liles was by far the most worthy candidate of a buyout. He was signed when he had a concussion and was never the same after; his game was mediocre at absolute best. Instead Liles was traded to Carolina for the bulky Tim Gleason, who was later bought out by Toronto with a regular buyout which of course includes a salary cap penalty for part of his salary. Brilliant work, I must say.
After a number of changes on the roster with the removal of many players, including Kulemin and MacArthur who were Grabovski’s linemates; the Leafs got nothing for a once great line. Not exactly the best work by management, wouldn’t you agree?
The cupboards in Toronto have slowly started to stockpile, but there is still some work to be done. The Maple Leafs has a few quality prospects in the cupboard and a slew of decent prospects that could surprise and end up being impactful National Hockey League players. I’d like to go over my depth list with prospects in the system, and of course take a look at the Maple Leafs depth chart for this upcoming season.
Maple Leafs Prospects:
*Keep in mind, positions are open to change when entering at the NHL level*
Center: Mitch Marner (drafted 2015 – round 1) William Nylander (drafted 2014 – round 1) Carter Verhaeghe (drafted 2013 – round 3) Frederik Gauthier (drafted 2013 – round 1) Sam Carrick (drafted 2010 – round 5)
Left Wing: Josh Leivo (drafted 2011 – round 3) Brendan Leipsic (drafted 2012 – round 3) *traded to Toronto Martins Dzierkals (drafted 2015 – round 3) Dmytro Timashov (drafted 2015 – round 5) Pierre Engvall (drafted 2014 – round 7)
Right Wing: Kasperi Kapanen (drafted 2014 – round 1) *traded to Toronto Connor Brown (drafted 2012 – round 6) Jeremy Bracco (drafted 2015 – round 2) Zach Hyman (drafted 2010 – round 5) *traded to Toronto Andreas Johnson (drafted 2013 – round 7)
Defense: Scott Harrington (drafted 2011 – round 2) *traded to Toronto Stuart Percy (drafted 2011 – round 1) Rinat Valiev (drafted 2014 – round 3) Matt Finn (drafted 2012 – round 2) Travis Dermott (drafted 2015 – round 2)
Goalies: Antoine Bibeau (drafted 2013 – round 6) Christopher Gibson (drafted 2011 – round 2) *free agent Garret Sparks (drafted 2011 – round 7)
Maple Leafs Depth Chart:
Center: Nazem Kadri Tyler Bozak Peter Holland Shawn Matthias
Left Wing: James van Riemsdyk Daniel Winnik Leo Komarov Nick Spaling
Right Wing: Joffrey Lupul P.A. Parenteau Mark Arcobello Richard Panik
Defense: Dion Phaneuf Morgan Rielly Jake Gardiner Roman Polak Matt Hunwick Stephane Robidas
Goalies: Jonathan Bernier James Reimer
It’s certainly not a pretty roster that is going to run up the scoreboard night in, night out. But there should certainly be some players on the offensive end of the puck who are looking to impress. Many players will be with one or two year contracts and looking to get attention from other teams to potentially join come trade deadline. Expect quality efforts in each game or players to end up in the press box or riding the pine. After last years debacle with players giving a half-assed effort, us fans will not stand for it and the Leafs organization knows this. If you can recall, there was some outcry last season with ticket sales going down and a lack of interest in the team as the season wound down.
I’m really looking forward to the rookie camps getting underway so we can finally see some action on the ice. Not too long now…
Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your week and have a great weekend!