Waivers Could Help Decide the Toronto Maple Leafs Lineup

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the last week of the preseason.

Cuts to the roster will be happening soon. Who the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately decide to keep ion their roster to start the year could depend on certain players waiver eligibility.

Due to injuries in the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup, there are more available roster spots for the opening night than previously planned. Toronto has some good serviceable players competing for those spots. Unfortunately, teams can not keep everyone. The roster must be trimmed and salary cap compliant by the start of the regular season.

Sometimes a player might play well enough to make the team but doesn’t, and that’s because he is waivers exempt. Teams would rather send that player down than risk losing another player through waivers. Making these decisions is one of the trickiest parts of a general manager’s job. No matter which player a GM keeps or sends down, they will get criticized for it.

Fans in Toronto know very well how many times a player on waivers in Toronto gets picked up by another team. Last season it seemed to happen every time Dubas put a player on waivers. Every NHL team will be watching the waiver wire closely now that the preseason is almost finished. Will any Toronto players get plucked during this process? We will find out soon enough.

Toronto Maple Leafs Players on Waivers

Notable players on the Toronto Maple Leafs that will need to clear waivers to be sent down to the AHL are Denis Malgin, Adam Gaudette, Jordie Benn, Victor Mete, Kyle Clifford, and Joey Anderson.

Toronto doesn’t have enough roster space or cap space to keep all of these players. They also need to factor in icing the best roster possible, so they will risk losing some of these guys.

A player like Malgin may be kept over Nick Robertson because Robertson doesn’t need to clear waivers. Both players are having a good training camp and preseason. Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe would love to keep both players. The Leafs probably want to sign Zach Aston-Reese and will need the salary cap space. Tough decisions lay ahead for Dubas and his staff.

Jordie Benn is injured right now, so he might clear waivers for that reason, but Mete, Clifford, Gaudette, and Anderson might not get through without getting claimed.

It is a gamble that the Toronto Maple Leafs will need to take. Waivers are one of those things where you win some, and you lose some. Hopefully, the Toronto Maple Leafs gain more than they lose on waivers this season.