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.
No. 1: Travis Dermott
After getting drafted 34th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, it hasn’t been a fairytale career playing for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs.
Dermott has been an everyday NHLer for the majority of the past three seasons, but he hasn’t established himself as a player the team needs to keep. He lost his spot to Rasmus Sandin for a few games in the playoffs, before ultimately getting it back, and hasn’t turned into a top-four defenseman that everyone projected he would become.
However, he does continue to dominate 3rd pairing minutes, posted elite defensive stats, and plays left-defense on a team with Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin, so it isn’t exactly like there is anything he can do to get more ice time.
As a pending RFA, Dermott could still return to Toronto, but he would be a great piece for Seattle to grab, as they look to kickstart their franchise.
Since Dermott’s skating is so effective and his ability to rush the puck is a strong part of his game, I think many people expected him to be more of an offensive defenseman, rather than a defensive one. However, during his short career, he only has 11 goals and 47 points in 208 games.
That’s not a terrible stat-line, considering the limited minutes he plays and the fact that he never plays the powerplay, but it feels like he could turn into a more offensively gifted player one day.
Although Toronto would more than likely like to keep Dermott within the organization, Timothy Liljegren and Sandin are two young players who can fill his void if Seattle does in fact draft him.
No. 2: Justin Holl
Holl’s stock has skyrocketed in value over the past two seasons. After being healthy-scratched over 70 times two years ago, Holl has emerged as a top-four defenseman and someone who plays a shutdown role very well.
The 29-year-old was a former second-round pick, so there was always potential for him, but it took him a long time to finally become a full-time NHLer.
As a result, Toronto has a big decision to make, as to whether or not they value Holl or Alex Kerfoot more. There’s no likely scenario where the team could really keep both of them (theoretically, at least, the Leafs could work out a trade whereby they pay Seattle not to take either one), so whichever player they decide to keep, the other one could easily get picked up by Seattle.
Holl’s $2M contract for a top-four defenseman is very valuable, so that could make them want to keep him over Kerfoot, who’s scheduled to make $3.5M next year.
If Seattle picks Holl, they would be getting a “veteran” defenseman at a cheap price and he’d be someone who could easily slide into a top-six every day role.
No. 3: Alex Kerfoot
Kerfoot is a good hockey player, but at $3.5M to play third-line centre, it could be a blessing if he got drafted by Seattle.
The Toronto Maple Leafs could use some cap-flexibility so getting rid of Kerfoot could be exactly what they need. The team faced a similar situation last summer, when they traded away Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson for very little in return and the team’s depth actually benefited from it.
The same thing could happen if they let Kerfoot walk into Seattle’s hands.
Seattle is not going to have a cap issue, so they should have no problem with a $3.5M centre, who plays the penalty-kill could be a great addition to an inaugural franchise.
As we mentioned before, the Leafs are going to have to choose between Kerfoot and Holl and in my opinion, they should keep Holl. Kerfoot is a useful player, but Holl is more valuable to the team and he makes less money.
Kerfoot could benefit from playing in a new situation in a bigger role, so he could really shine in Seattle, which is something he won’t be doing any time soon with Auston Matthews and John Tavares ahead of him on the depth chart.
No. 4: Michael Hutchinson
Seattle is going to draft a minimum of three goalies during their expansion draft, not only for their NHL team, but for their AHL team as well.
Toronto was looking into the future when they gave Hutchinson a two-year deal last offseason, because they already knew that he would be the goalie that they would expose in the draft. Instead of exposing Jack Campbell, the team can happily let Hutchinson go to Seattle.
If Seattle drafted Hutchinson, that would be the best-case scenario for Toronto.
Hutchinson is the Toronto Maple Leafs fourth-string goalie, but could be the back-up or third-string goalie on a brand-new franchise, if that’s what Seattle wanted to do. The Vegas Golden Knights managed to become a powerhouse right away, but that probably won’t be the same situation for the Kraken.
Instead, they’ll most likely tank for a few years to continue to rebuild the franchise with draft picks. Hutchinson can provide Seattle a steady back-up goalie, but more than likely, can be their AHL goalie for a few years.
Hutchinson has shown that he has NHL capabilities but on a good team, he’s best suited as the third or fourth goalie.
Next. 2021-22 Leafs Projected Lineup. dark
It wouldn’t be shocking at all to see Seattle draft Hutchinson, as the goalie market isn’t too strong heading into the expansion draft.