Toronto Maple Leafs: Don’t Expect to See Ben Harpur or Garrett Wilson Make Team
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed a lot of depth players this off-season.
With a mind to toughness and size, one narrative is that Toronto Maple Leafs GM, Kyle Dubas, sought out a couple of grinders like Ben Harpur and Garrett Wilson to balance out the lineup.
Just don’t expect to ever see them play.
The Leafs are just too deep to for these guys to make the team.
Toronto Maple Leafs Depth
The Leafs are a stacked team that will dress a second line that is as good as almost any team’s first line. Their third line is like a second line, and so on and so forth.
In fact, they could dress two fourth lines that are better than most other team’s fourth lines.
Let us imagine a fully healthy Leafs lineup:
Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson- Matthews- Nylander
Mikheyev – Kerfoot – Kapanen
Moore – Spezza – Shore
This lineup doesn’t include Kenny Agostino, Frederick Gauthier, Pontus Aberg or Garrett Wilson, who is coming in somewhere between 14-16th on the depth chart.
Nor does it account for longshot players like Pierre Engvall or Jeremy Bracco.
Garret Wilson is a half-way decent player, and he probably should be an NHL regular – but it’s not likely to happen with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On defense, it’s just as bad news for Ben Harpur.
The Leafs top four on defense is insane – Rielly, Dermott, Muzzin and Barrie. It’s thought that Codi Ceci gets probably gets a free pass to the top-four while Dermott recovers, so let’s say that’s five locks for the lineup.
Competing for ice time are: Justin Holl, Martin Marincin, Jordan Schmaltz, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, Kevin Gravel and Ben Harpur.
Even if the Leafs don’t promote one of the top prospects, Harpur would be in tough to get ice time ahead of Kevin Gravel who is also left handed, also huge, but actually has a history of playing good defensive hockey in the NHL.
Other than an injury based promotion, it’s hard to imagine that the Leafs would snub both rookies, ignore the returning Holl and Marincin, then choose the worst player out of Gravel, Schmaltz and Harpur to play on the team.
Being left handed isn’t going to help him either.
Next. Trading Marner Is Unlikely. dark
I know some people feel that Harpur and Wilson could provide what they perceive as missing from this lineup, but the evidence suggests that the Leafs don’t feel like it matters.
Barring a disastrous run of injuries, it’s hard to see either player dressing for the Leafs this year.