4 Players Toronto Maple Leafs Could Lose in Expansion Draft
Expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to lose a familiar face in the 2021 NHL Expansion draft later this summer.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs took place in the previous expansion draft, there wasn’t much to worry about. Since their young core wasn’t eligible to be selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, they weren’t going lose anyone too valuable.
The player that Vegas ultimately selected was Brendan Leipsic, who had only played six games as a Leaf, but was an above average AHLer with the Toronto Marlies. Leipsic turned into a steady fourth-line player in the NHL, but his contract was recently terminated by the Washington Capitals, due to an inappropriate conversation on his Instagram account.
Toronto will have a lot more decisions to make when it comes to this year’s expansion draft. Since Zach Hyman, Jason Spezza and Zach Bogosian are pending unrestricted free agents, they won’t have to protect them, as long as they sign them after the draft, so that’s one problem solved.
However, the Leafs will have to decide whether to keep seven forwards, three defenseman and one goalie or a combination of eight players and one goalie.
Here is the most likely combination for both scenarios:
7 Forwards, 3 Defenseman, 1 Goalie:
- Auston Matthews
- John Tavares
- Mitch Marner
- William Nylander
- Alex Kerfoot
- Zach Hyman (If signed before draft)
- Pierre Engvall
- Morgan Rielly
- T.J. Brodie
- Jake Muzzin
- Jack Campbell
8 Players, 1 Goalie:
- Auston Matthews
- John Tavares
- Mitch Marner
- William Nylander
- Morgan Rielly
- T.J. Brodie
- Jake Muzzin
- Justin Holl
- Jack Campbell
If Toronto goes with eight players, it’ll allow them to keep Justin Holl, who’s a great value defenseman, making only $2M per season to play in the top-four. However, by going with seven forwards, the team can keep Kerfoot and Engvall.
Here are the four most likely players to get drafted by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft.