Toronto Maple Leafs lost their first two pre-season games before taking down the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night and we are now less than two weeks away from the team's season opener on October 3 against Detroit.
Barring some sort of trade, heading into the upcoming games the TorontoMaple Leafs have eight of the 12 forward positions locked in with Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Max Domi, William Nylander, Bobby McMann, John Tavares and Nicholas Robertson holding those spots.
Competing for the final four-five positions if you include the 13th forward are PTO signees Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz, along with 2023-24 staples: Pontus Holmberg, Calle Järnkrok, David Kämpf, Ryan Reaves and Connor Dewar; and finally prospects Easton Cowan, Alex Steeves and Nikita Greybonkin.
That is a total of ten players scratching and clawing those final few spots and the two big questions is how will management get down to 13 forwards; and will they have the courage to take the best forward group and not worry about hurt feelings and contracts.
Will the Toronto Maple Leafs have the courage to make the correct cuts?
The easiest player to remove from the list is Greybonkin as the 21-year old has yet to play a regular season game in North America and there would be a ton of value of letting him get familiar with the smaller ice surface and the lifestyle in a new country.
The next easiest choice is to slide Holmberg onto the roster as the 2018 sixth round selection has proven he can be a contributing NHL player, but what isn't clear is whether that is as a third line winger or a fourth line center and this season it is time time to fully commit to him. Lorentz is the next player that should fill a spot on the roster, the 2024 Stanley Cup Champion has already proven that he can be a depth player on a better team so to fit in on the Maple Leafs is a no brainer.
One of the more controversial decisions and something that seems to have been pre-ordained anyways, is that Max Pacioretty will be on the team. He should however, come with the caveat that Easton Cowan also stays around with the team. Pacioretty might not last, will get injured and won't play 82 games. He and Cowan could easily share a roster spot by swapping in and out of the lineup.
Cowan has shown that he has surpassed the level of the junior hockey, and based on the elite performance Thursday where he played on the top line and posted an expected goals rating approaching 70%, he clearly belongs in the NHL.
All of a sudden the five spots have already been taken by Pacioretty, Holmberg, Lorentz and Cowan, which leaves one final spot which would go to 2024 trade deadline acquisition Connor Dewar. Similar to Holmberg, the Manitoba native offers more versatility than players like Kämpf. Dewar has the ability to play third line wing or fourth line center while also killing penalties.
With these decisions this means, the Maple Leafs would be required to trade Reaves, Kämpf, Järnkrok and Steeves or risk losing them to waivers, while Greybonkin would be waiver exempt. If it came down to losing those players for nothing, I'd ask would it be the end of the world?
I would say just the cap room alone would be the acquisition. The bigger question is will Maple Leafs management have the courage to move on from the likes of Reaves, Kämpf and Järnkrok who carry a combined $5.85 Million cap hit? Sounds like space for a top four defenseman throughout the season.