The Toronto Maple Leafs do not need to add depth players to their lineup.
While everyone keeps envisioning every single player on every single other team on the Toronto Maple Leafs, the fact is, the Leafs depth is already crazy, so they have no real need to spend assets on mid-range players.
The Leafs will likely make a waiver claim or send cheap picks out the door for some insurance, as every team is wont to do.
But what I highly doubt they will do is pursue mid-range non-stars like Vancouver’s Connor Garland, or the Golden Knights’ William Carrier, or old friend JVR, or any bottom-six name-brand player, really.
If you don’t believe me, check out the bottom of the Leafs lineup.
Toronto Maple Leafs Post-Deadline Bottom-Six
The Leafs bottom-six isn’t your typical bang-and-crash, but it’s deceptively good.
Pierre Engvall is not considered one of the best bottom-six players in the NHL, but he is anyways.
If you spent all summer telling people that Liljegren and Sandin were the Leafs two best defenders last year, their "surprise breakout when the team suffered injuries" is by far the stupidest narrative of the season.
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) February 6, 2023
Much like how the mainstream media is catching on to the top-end skill of Liljegren and Sandin over a year after they’d already proven to be top-of-the-lineup players, you can expect to see Engvall enshrined as a good player next season at some point.
With the possible exceptions of a star player who is slumming it on a deep team, Engvall has become maybe the best “bottom six” player in the entire NHL. (i.e if you want to say Taylor Hall is a bottom six player, he’s better than Engvall).
David Kampf is a non-star who can shut down stars, giving the Leafs a ton of lineup options.
Calle Jarnkrok will either join the bottom-six after the trade deadline, or the Leafs will have acquired their own Taylor Hall style star-down-low-untill-it-matters.
Pontus Holmberg has earned his spot on this roster, and now the question is just how good he can be. A sneaky talented, uber-smart player who might is pure “found-money” and has established himself as a solid player on a top team.
Alex Kerfoot is one of the best non-star players in the entire NHL, and if he’s still here after the trade deadline the Leafs will have a very deep team, indeed. If your seventh, eighth, and ninth best forwards are Kerfoot, Engvall, Jarnkrok, your team is insanely deep.
Still, Kerfoot could find himself traded to make room for a higher salary star player. Either way, that leaves Zach Aston Reese, Joey Anderson, Bobby McMann, Wayne Simmonds to compete for the 11th and 12th spots.
Right now, I’d rank them in this order: McMann, Anderson, Simmonds, Aston-Reese. However, I think if you are using any one of those guys as your worst forward, you have a better worst forward than every other team in the NHL.
Depth Chart:
- Matthews. 2. Marner. 3. Nylander 4. Tavares 5. Bunting 6. Kerfoot 7. Engvall 8. Jarnkrok 9. Kampf 10. Holmberg 11. McMann 12. Anderson 13. Simmonds 14. Reese
And the Leafs also have a ton of guys on the farm who could warrant a look, from Abruzzes, to Steeves to SDA. Depth isn’t an issue. The Toronto Maple Leafs need stars. There just is no reason for them to trade for mid-range players like Domi, Jenner, JVR or Barbashev.