The Untouchables
Starting with the obvious, here are the players on the current Toronto Maple Leafs Roster who I cannot see Kyle Dubas parting ways with at any point in the near future.
- Auston Matthews
- Mitch Marner
- John Tavares
- Zach Hyman
- Ilya Mikheyev
- Rasmus Sandin
- Justin Holl
- Jake Muzzin
- Pierre Engvall
- Morgan Rielly
The names should speak for themselves when you ask why most of these guys are untouchable. Marner and Tavares are signed for extended periods of time, and having any thought about trading Auston Matthews just sounds dumber as I say it over in my head.
As for players such as Zach Hyman, Justin Holl and Jake Muzzin, while they are so valuable to this Maple Leafs team in their own ways, the reason they are considered among the other names in this category is because they are on good contracts and do not have enough individual value that would result in a worthy return.
Morgan Rielly has been the backbone of the Leafs defensive core for quite some time, and while his next contract negotiation could be difficult in regards to cap space, I cannot see Kyle Dubas actively shopping their best defensemen.
As for the rookies, Rasmus Sandin will likely be our biggest defensive prospect in the near future, while Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev made some strong impressions on Leafs management this season, which will likely earn Mikheyev a nice extension this summer.
These 9 players are a very solid group to build around, but this still leaves an exceptional number of players unprotected for various individual reasons.