John Tavares' injury news opens up massive opportunity for Maple Leafs center

Saturday’s announcement by the Toronto Maple Leafs, declaring that John Tavares would be out week-to-week, opens the door for a newcomer to potentially get some looks.

Indeed the injury should give Aatu Raty an opportunity to fill in during a particular time of need.

Now, it’s one heck of a coincidence that the Leafs traded for Raty hours before Tavares went down later in the evening.

The move makes me think that GM John Chayka is either psychic or he made a depth move, just in case. And it just so happened that the eventuality he was preparing for occurred almost immediately.

That said, Raty could be a very convenient piece to have at the moment. On Thursday night against the Sabres, head coach Jim Hiller deployed Nick Paul in the second-line center role, with Tavares on the wing. So, Paul will once again be back down the middle against the New York Islanders on Saturday night, with Colton Sissons and Teddy Blueger taking up the other two center spots.

But what if the organization decides to move everyone up a rung? For instance, the club could deploy Paul back on the wing with Sissons running as the 2C. That would allow Blueger to play in the 3C role, with an opening for a 4C.

And that 4C would be Raty.

It’s worth pointing out that I’ve called Raty the next David Kampf. He’ll be a fantastic defensive center with exceptional face-off skills, particularly in the defensive zone. So, you have to wonder if there isn’t an opportunity there for Raty to fill in down the middle sooner rather than later.

Raty trade was convenient for another reason

There’s another reason why the Raty trade happened to be so convenient. The Leafs might have been able to figure out a way to pluck Raty on waivers. However, doing so would have forced the Maple Leafs to keep him on the NHL roster, lest they risk losing him on waivers.

By clearing waivers, Toronto gets the flexibility to call him up and send him back down without needing to clear again.

Now, there is one catch to that situation. If Raty plays more than 10 games or spends 30 days on the NHL roster, he’ll have to clear again.

That may be an issue, but that’s a bridge that the organization will cross when it comes to it.

In the meantime, the Leafs will likely deploy Bo Groulx and Zack MacEwan in depth roles. They’re good pieces and should provide plenty of spark.

It will also be great to see The Cowboy, Easton Cowan, on the second line with Paul and Kirill Marchenko.

But it’s worth keeping Raty in the back of everyone’s minds. He might have been the sort of move that Chayka had set up for just this sort of situation.

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