Toronto Maple Leafs: The Battles for the Last Few Roster Spots

The Final Roster

By the end of the weekend fans should have a better idea of how the opening day roster, but if the team is looking to win, these should be the final moves:

Forwards
Tyler Bertuzzi – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Matthew Knies – John Tavares – Sam Lafferty
Fraser Minten – William Nylander – Max Domi
Noah Gregor – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves

Forward Depth: Calle Järnkrok should be traded or else waived.  Pontus Holmberg and Nick Robertson should start the season in the minors, while Fraser Minten gets a longer look.  Easton Cowan will be returned to the London Knights.

Defense
Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie
Jake McCabe – Timothy Liljegren
Simon Benoit – John Klingberg

Defense Depth: Mark Giordano placed on waivers and remains with the club to remove cap hit from the team.  Conor Timmins will be on LTIR, while Mikko Kokkonen and William Lagesson will start the season with the Toronto Marlies.

Goalies
Ilya Samsonov
Joseph Woll

Goalie Depth: If both goalies are 100% going into the season, Martin Jones will be placed on waivers and unfortunately will likely be claimed.  If there is any concern about health with one of the goalies, the team can carry all three.

Cap Situation
With this line-up, including Jones and Järnkrok are claimed, the team will be $1.8 Million under the cap hit.

If Järnkrok is not claimed and Jones remains with the team, the Maple Leafs will be $80,000 under the cap.