Toronto Maple Leafs expansion draft protected list revealed

After the Vegas Golden Knights received the protection list from all the NHL teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to employ the 7-3-1 format for their expansion list.

Going into the expansion draft the Toronto Maple Leafs were not in danger of losing a significant player with most being exempt or a part of their protection list. There were going to be some questions on which forwards from the Toronto Marlies would be exposed but that’s about it.

Here is the official protections list that the Leafs submitted.

Forwards: Tyler Bozak, Connor Brown, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Josh Leivo, Matt Martin, James van Riemsdyk,
Defencemen: Connor Carrick, Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly
Goaltender: Frederik Andersen

That means the following players will be available for the Vegas Golden Knights to select.

This is another list including UFAs.

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Out of the list of players available, Brendan Leipsic and Kerby Rychel are probably atop of the Golden Knight’s list of players to take. It would be shocking to see the team take one of the defencemen or goaltenders available considering they have better options available on other teams.

As far as players on the protection list there are not any major surprises especially because their more valuable players like Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner were exempt from the draft. The only surprises on the list were probably Josh Leivo and Matt Martin being protected. Leivo had a tough time sticking in the lineup but maybe there is another deal to be made with him in the near future.

Martin has been a favourite of GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Mike Babcock despite many thinking that it would have been a better choice to protect Leipsic. The Leafs probably won’t get too heartbroken over Leipsic getting picked because the team has an abundance of small skilled forwards. Rychel might be the more intriguing option given his potential and how he played this season in the AHL scoring 52 points in 73 games.

Next: Could Simon Despres be worth pursuing?

As we get closer to the unveiling of the expansion draft roster, there could be more news and potential trades made by Vegas providing more intrigue moving forward.