Reaves, Benoit, Gregor, Kampf and Domi
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to get rid of Ryan Reaves. It was horribly embarssing when they signed him to a three-year deal and it was even worse when they kept forcing him into the lineup.
It was a clear mistake, let's move on.
Same goes with Noah Gregor. He's fast, but that's it. Nice story, but whatever. He has to go too. I would love to see Alex Steeves get an extended look rather than trading for some dud.
Simon Benoit? Love him. He's a deserved fan favorite but I'm concerned that he doesn't score enough to make him useful. He's been on the ice way too much with Auston Matthews and at the very least that has to stop.
I like how he plays, if he's the #6 that's cool, but you can't pay him with Mark Giordano. He has worked with McCabe and a McCabe/Benoit third pairing is a lot more exciting than that being the second pairing. I would like it better if he was the #7 but if the Leafs get an upgrade to play with Rielly on the top pairing and they stick with Brodie/Liljegren, suddenly playing Benoit regularly becomes a lot more palatable.
In my mind, Domi has won a job for the rest of the year. He's great offensively and using him with Bertuzzi and Nylander is kind of awesome. Even though I wasn't a fan of signing him, I've been saying all year that it shouldn't be too hard for an NHL coach to make use of his talent and it's nice to see Keefe finally coming through in that department.
As for Kampf, if you're just going to waste him with Reeves don't bother. However, a Holberg-Kampf-Jarnkrok 4th line could be quite amazing. I don't really think any team in the league can match that.