Who the Toronto Maple Leafs Protect In Expansion Draft
By James Tanner
Forwards to Protect
The Leafs can protect seven forwards, unfortunately, that means either someone good is going to get selected or they have to make some pre-draft moves.
Let’s start with the obvious players who will be protected:
- Connor Brown
- Nazem Kadri
- van Riemsdyk
That is it. There are just three out of seven spots that I can guarantee are protected. The Leafs happen to have more than seven forwards that they’d like to keep.
The goalie and the three D they protect are fairly obvious. But after Brown, JVR and Kadri, there are tough choices to make.
So from here on out, it’s just my opinion on who’d I would trade and protect.
The Candidates :
Bozak, Komarov, Martin, Rychel, Leipsic, Griffin, Leivo.
The Leafs can only keep four of the above players.
The easy answer is just to keep Komarov, Bozak, Martin and Leipsic, however, I think there is a better way to do it.
I would leave Bozak exposed, because I feel like he’d be selected for sure. He’s a valuable player and someone the Knights could flip for a younger asset at the trade deadline. Bozak is the easiest to replace because Nylander is wasted as a winger. Komarov offers elite defense and the Leafs are in no position to give up on young players who are cost controlled and may become much more valuable then they are today.
The fact is, you know what you’re losing in Bozak and that’s acceptable.