Toronto Maple Leafs: Excessive Amounts of Wingers

The Toronto Maple Leafs have to make a trade.

They are just stacked to the rafters with wingers and, at a certain point, something has to happen. Usually you don’t see trades in training camp, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Toronto Maple Leafs make a move before the season starts.

They invited 73 players to camp, and it seems as if about 65 of them are high quality wingers. This is the one thing that always made me wonder about the signing of Patrick Marleau – why do you even need him?

James van Riemsdyk has been on the trade block forever, and Kasperi Kapanen is definitely ready for a regular role after last seasons players, but those aren’t the only problems.

A List of Problems Brought on By too many Wingers:

Josh Leivo doesn’t have a lineup spot.

Leivo is a solid player. Whenever he’s been given a chance, he’s produced. He led the Leafs (and was second only to Steven Stamkos) last year in points per minute. Even if it was an aberration (it almost certainly was) he is still the kind of high-volume shot producer you want in your lineup.

2. Leo Komarov has been switched to right wing.

This is because it was either that or put him on the fourth line. You can’t play your best defensive forward on the fourth line where he’s useless. Will switching sides hurt his game? I honestly don’t know. But it would seem to me that you shouldn’t ask a guy who has become top five at what he does (be a defensive forward) to switch positions.

3. Connor Brown on the fourth line

Brown scored 20 goals as a rookie, and has way more upside than that. He’s potentially a very good two-way forward and is way too good to be wasted on a fourth line. Just the fact that this is even in consideration means that the Leafs should give away Bozak to the first team that calls and move Nylander so that there’s room for Brown.

Though even with Bozak gone and Hyman, Brown, Komarov, Marleau, JVR and Marner remaining, there still isn’t room for Kapanen or Leivo in the top nine.

4. Kasperi Kapanen has No Spot

Kapanen is the Leafs fastest player and their second best defensive forward. Because of this, he needs to play in a top nine role. If Brown makes Bozak expendable (by way of Nylander moving to C) then Kapanen makes JVR expendable.

5. All the Other Guys

Carl Grundstrom could play in the NHL today. So could Andreas Johnson, Kirby Richel, Miro Aaltonen, Nikita Soshnikov, Tobias Lindberg or Dmytro Timashov.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not only knee deep in quality NHL wingers, but they’ve also got an insane collection of ready-for-the-NHL wingers who have next to no chance to make the current team.

Next: Bonjour Nylander, Au Revoir Bozak

The time has come for the Leafs management to clear out some space, give some guys a chance with another organization and convert some of this talent into younger player or draft picks. The time is long past when they should have dealt with the Bozak and van Riemsdyk situations.

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