James Tanner
The Leafs could easily have made a different roster coming into the start of the season.
For one, I would not have traded Connor Carrick, I would have had him in the lineup playing with Travis Dermott on the second pairing. I would have cut Ron Hainsey. He would have gone straight to Robidas Island, while I would have iced a top pairing of Reilly and Gardiner.
My third pairing would have been Borgman and Liljegren, who I think deserved a fairer chance at making the NHL. Nikita Zaitsev would be in the minors right now, under my regime.
On forward, there is no way I’m playing Patrick Marleau on the top line. I would have given Grundstrom a chance to win that role, and if he couldn’t hack it, I’d put Andreas Johnsson there. I’d also want Kapanen’s speed higher in the lineup where it will be more useful, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have used Tyler Ennis for anything more than fourth line depth. All but giving him the top line job before camp even started is ridiculous.
If it was up to me, I would have given an extended look to Jeremy Bracco, in the hopes that I get a fast-winger-with-super-star centre a la Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh.
Bottom line, if I was the Leafs I would have held a far more experimental trading camp, and my current roster would look very different.
Thanks for reading!