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Leafs Q & A - October 13th Edition, New Leafs Convo

October 13, 2019, 9:33 PM ET [223 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, but in spite of the club having a winning record through six games, there are some areas that have popped up early on that could be a concern if they continue deeper into the season.

It is once again a good time to answer questions from the wonderful world of Twitter to see what is on the minds of Leafs Nation.




A - The Leafs and all other NHL clubs do not have to worry about the protection list for the Seattle Expansion franchise for another two years, but it is likely something that GM Kyle Dubas will keep in mind when he makes transactions over the next 20 months.

Assuming there are no major moves between now and then and that Dubas goes with protecting seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, that would likely mean that Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Alex Kerfoot, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson would be the seven, Morgan Rielly, Travis Dermott and one of the pending UFA blueliners (Jake Muzzin, Cody Ceci or Tyson Barrie) if they re-sign with Toronto would be protected, along with Frederik Andersen (if he is extended).

That would leave forwards like Zach Hyman, Jeremy Bracco, Pierre Engvall and Trevor Moore exposed, but others like Ilya Mikheyev, Egor Korshkov, along with defensemen Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin do not have to be protected since they are exempt.




A - Barring a complete and utter collapse (which I do not see happening with the talent the Leafs have), my belief is that Babcock has this season at the absolute minimum. If Toronto makes another first round exit, then five seasons and four early exits may the final straw, but if the Leafs have any postseason success, he will buy himself more time.




A - I’m going under the assumption that you meant “unrestricted” instead of “Ugandan”, and my choice would be Jake Muzzin, since the Leafs have no one of his size, experience and championship pedigree in the organization. Tyson Barrie has great offensive skill, but Dubas will not be able to re-sign him to an extension unless he acquires another LTIR contract like David Clarkson or deals off a significant salary like Nylander.

Muzzin is 30 and may be more amenable to a shorter-term deal of four or five years at a cap hit around Morgan Rielly’s $5 Million AAV, whereas Barrie will be looking for something in excess of Justin Faulk’s new deal ($6.5 Million AAV).




A - Ignoring a possible hint of sarcasm, the Leafs have to be pleased at the progress being made by the 2015 fifth-round pick. He progressed and became a more complete player in three seasons with the Toronto Marlies, and has acquitted himself well on the fourth line this season with three assists in three games.

Timashov could eventually be a third liner with his playmaking and passing ability, but a spot in the top six is likely not in his future.




A - Toronto does not have the luxury of cap space or the amount of professional contracts to be impatient with Michael Hutchinson. He is expected to play four games in October in back-to-back situations and if he gets a couple wins, that should keep Babcock from getting all Jhonas Enroth or Garret Sparks with him, but the Leafs need points when Andersen is not in goal and have to get their starter rest during the season.

If Hutchinson struggles into November and December, it may force Dubas to go shopping, but they will have to move out a salary to make room for another goalie.




A - Dubas and Asst. GM Brandon Pridham have accounted for the eventual return of Hyman and Travis Dermott. They along with Nathan Horton and David Clarkson went on LTIR at the start of the season and the Leafs maximized the amount of space they could open utilizing LTIR by keeping Timothy Liljegren on the roster in the opening week.

The difficulty for the Leafs will be if they need to go out and make any moves before the trade deadline, which will have to be a money-in, money out scenario since they have no maneuvering room at all.




A - This has been a genuine concern since the offseason moves that the Leafs made. Dubas has doubled-down on a philosophy based mostly on high skill and speed. Other than Muzzin and feisty forwards like Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen, Toronto does not have any sandpaper to combat teams like Boston in a playoff situation.

We saw how they will try to combat that in how they played against St. Louis on Monday, which was fairly effective, but if star players like John Tavares and Mitch Marner continue to be targeted by opposition defenders, then we could see a move towards bringing up some big players like Mason Marchment or Egor Korshkov.




A - Sandin has played very well to start the season and the level of trust that Babcock has shown in him is increasing. After the 19-year-old played only 8:58 in the season opener, his usage has been expanded to between 12 to 15 minutes in all but one of his games and he does not seem phased by playing in the NHL at such a young age.

Sandin does not count against the 50 pro contract limit because he is still eligible for an entry-level slide, which means he would not burn a year of his rookie contract if he does not play 10 games. That would mean sending him down to the Marlies before Game #10 (which if he continues to play every game, would be against Columbus on October 21).

If Babcock decided to sit Sandin, that would stretch the time to make a decision until later in the month (perhaps until Travis Dermott is ready to return from off-season shoulder surgery), but at this point the young Swede has proved he is one of the Leafs top six blueliners.

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