According to Elliotte Friedman, the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for a depth centerman.
And who could blame them? There is no questioning that the Leafs need an upgrade on their fourth line. Ben Smith is still out with an injury, and Frederik Gauthier, though currently filling that spot, does not look ready.
You have to wonder if the Leafs are at all regretting trading away Peter Holland. One, because he is a center, and two, because he could fill that spot, no problem. Not that re-trading for him would make any sense, but it is an interesting what-if to consider, at least.
The Leafs re-claimed Seth Griffith off of waivers a few days ago and immediately reassigned him to the Toronto Marlies. With Kasperi Kapanen out for a lengthy amount of time, most assumed that Griffith would help add offense to a currently struggling Marlies team.
In-House Options for the Toronto Maple Leafs
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Maybe the Leafs don’t need to look that far outside of the city for centre-ice depth. The easy option would be to just call Griffith up and send Gauthier back down. Griffith, despite being the most NHL ready candidate, is primarily a winger. Even if they were to try him at centre, what happens when Smith returns from his injury? They probably just lose him on waivers again.
In order to see what other options there might be, I went through most of the NHL’s bottom feeders’ lineups. Funny enough, most of them were players who were former Leafs.
That list includes Peter Holland (Arizona), Shawn Matthias (Winnipeg), Joe Colborne (Colorado), John Mitchell (Colorado), Matt Stajan (Calgary), Jay McClement (Carolina), and Greg McKegg (Florida).
Remember the days of ‘Jay McClement for the Selke’? Those were some dark times.
Reunion?
One name that might be interesting is Casey Cizikas. It’s no secret that the Islanders are a bad team this season, although since Jack Capuano’s firing they are 2-0-1.
The reason I bring Cizikas’ name up is because of his experience and success playing with Matt Martin, who is currently on the Leafs fourth line. If there is one player who might add some stability and veteran presence to the Leafs fourth line, Cizikas seems like the best fit of the aforementioned players.
I still think the Leafs best option is to call Griffith up if they are that desperate for a fourth line centre, because that way they won’t have to give up any assets they would have to in a trade.
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If they’re unsatisfied with Gauthier’s performance but don’t want to try Griffin at centre, there may be other waiver-exempt Marlies who deserve an NHL look.
It seems more likely that they’re looking outside the organization, however, which means there might be a trade coming this team’s way in the near future.