3 Toronto Maple Leafs Who Could Be Drafted By Seattle Kraken
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to lose a player this week when the Seattle Kraken kickstart their franchise with the Expansion Draft on Wednesday.
Even though it feels like an eternity ago because the Vegas Golden Knights have been a Stanley Cup contender ever since, their Expansion Draft only took place in 2017. In four years, the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise has turned upside down and any fan who’s upset about the current state of this team should take a hard look at their protection list then.
2017 Expansion Draft Protection List:
- Forwards: Tyler Bozak, Connor Brown, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Josh Leivo, Matt Martin, James van Riemsdyk
- Defencemen: Connor Carrick, Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly
- Goaltender: Frederik Andersen
2021 Expansion Draft Protection List:
- Forwards: Auston Matthews. John Tavares. Mitch Marner. William Nylander
- Defense: Morgan Rielly, Justin Holl, Jake Muzzin, T.J. Brodie
- Goaltender: Jack Campbell
It was only four years ago that the Leafs protected Leo Komarov, Josh Leivo, Connor Carrick, Jake Gardiner and Matt Martin! Of those 11 players who the Leafs protected, Rielly, and maybe Kadri, are the only two players who the team would even consider protecting right now.
The Leafs are in a much better situation right now, but it makes things harder because they’re going to lose a player who’s very good. Back in 2017, the team only had to sacrifice losing Brendan Leipsic, which was a blessing in disguise. Although he turned into a serviceable fourth-liner, he said disgraceful things about his teammates off the ice, and eventually got his contract terminated by Washington.
It’s possible that a side-deal is in place so that the Leafs don’t lose a player they value, but it’s more likely than not that one of these three players will be a Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.
Here are the three most likely players to be picked in the Expansion Draft.
No. 1: Jared McCann
The Toronto Maple Leafs made a surprising move on the weekend when they acquired McCann from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the timing makes a ton of sense.
Heading into the Expansion Draft, the Leafs had a decision to make. Should they do 4-4-1, or a 7-3-1, which would expose Justin Holl. The team decided that they value Holl more than a few forwards, so they acquired McCann to either get picked up by Seattle, or to be a replacement for a certain someone we’ll talk about later.
McCann can play wing or centre, but would more than likely fits best as the third-line centre. He’s been very efficient over the past few seasons and was on-pace for back-to-back 20-goal campaigns, if he’d been able to play a full 82-game schedule.
Based on his salary ($2.94M AAV), McCann would be a great candidate for Seattle, who more than likely wouldn’t want to spend to the salary-cap in year one.
The Leafs gave up Filip Hallander and a seventh-round pick to acquire McCann, so although it would be difficult to see him leave immediately after trading an asset for him, that’s less than what the team would have had to pay to keep the next player we’re going to speak about.
In my opinion, it was a great decision to acquire McCann, even if he does leave, but it gives the team great flexibility after the draft.
No. 2: Alex Kerfoot
By acquiring McCann, the Leafs will now have their third-line centre lined up for next season regardless of what happens in the Expansion Draft. The Leafs probably thought they were going to lose Kerfoot, so they acquired McCann to replace him, but if Seattle picks McCann instead, then the Leafs will have Kerfoot back, who they’re comfortable with.
Kyle Dubas deserves a gold-star for that move, because it’s a win-win for him no matter who Seattle selects.
Kerfoot is a responsible two-way centre, who can kill penalties, chip in with a few goals, but plays with speed.
Fans irrationally criticize Kerfoot because they want him to be more like Nazem Kadri, but that’s always been a terrible comparison. Just because you get traded for someone, doesn’t mean you’re supposed to replace them the exact same way. Kadri also got suspended once again in the playoffs, so trading him was the right decision, despite him being a fan-favorite.
Kerfoot hasn’t shown that he’s a 20-goal scorer in the NHL yet, but if he were selected to Seattle and played on the second-line instead of the third-line, it’s possible he gets there. He has enough tools to score, but has been slotted on a shutdown role with the Leafs over the past two years.
Losing Kerfoot would sting, but it would also be fine, because the team now has McCann. The same logic applies if the Kraken select McCann, because Kerfoot is a great option if he returned as the Leafs third-line centre next year.
No. 3: Travis Dermott
Justin Holl played great with Jake Muzzin on the second-unit this year, but if you dig deeper into his advanced stats, Dermott played much better, which is somewhat surprising.
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) July 7, 2021
As a result, I found it a little shocking that Holl was protected over Dermott. Based on his age and potential, I thought that the team would keep Dermott, expose the older Holl, with hopes Seattle wouldn’t want him, and let the Kraken take a Leafs forward.
Now that Dermott is available, it wouldn’t surprise me if Seattle picks him.
Sure, there are some deficiencies in his game, but Dermott’s still 24-years-old and has only played 208 games. I know that sounds like more than enough games to find his footing, but the old hockey homage is that it takes 300 NHL games to figure out what a defenseman really is. Therefore Dermott still has another season to finds his groove and find out exactly who he is.
Losing Dermott would be disappointing, but it would make the Leafs forward depth even deeper than it was a week ago, which is a positive. Toronto could flip Kerfoot for an asset if they wanted to open up salary-cap space for a UFA or they could push McCann into the top-six and hope that he clicks with the core-four.
Next. 3 Expensive Goalies Leafs Should Acquire. dark
Either way, it’ll be tough to see a quality player leave the organization this week, but fortunately for the fanbase, any player they take won’t be a difference-maker in the Toronto Maple Leafs winning or losing a Stanley Cup as the core is still in-tact for the foreseeable future.