The Leafs Projected Opening Night Roster for the 2016-17 Season

Today we are discussing what we can reasonably expect the Leafs projected opening night roster to look like and just as importantly, which players will be the first call ups in the case of injuries.

Despite the often expressed sentiment that any professional sports franchise will field their best team, regardless of contract status, waiver eligibility in the NHL plays an enormous role in determining who makes the roster versus who is kept in reserve during the early stages of a rebuild.

Player asset management will become a priority over the coming season, until the value of said assets can be accurately determined.

This season we will witness the emergence of a handful of very talented rookies making the team out of camp. One unfortunate aspect of this exciting development is that some very difficult roster decisions will have to be made.

We will possibly see what is essentially the beginning of the end of some NHL careers. The Leafs after all, simply have too many marginal veterans vying for spots they will be forced to give to the emerging prospects.

Following is my Leafs projected opening night roster for the 2016-17 season:

Forwards

Defense

Morgan Rielly

Connor Carrick       Jake Gardiner

Nikita Zaitsev      Martin Marincin

Roman Polak      Matt Hunwick

Goaltenders

Frederik Andersen            Jhonas Enroth

For the Leafs projected opening night roster to materialize in this manner, an important move involving two fringe, yet nonetheless valuable player assets will have to take place, with the trade of both Byron Froese and Frankie Corrado.

Both players have some NHL experience and would make very useful spare parts for just about any team in the league, but both are waiver eligible. They cannot be sent down to the Marlies without clearing waivers. Expect some kind of trade involving these two players to take place near the beginning of the season.

As useful as either player may be, the two Standard Player Contracts freed up by their being moved out may be more valuable to the Leafs at this juncture of the rebuild.

Probably the most difficult aspect of carving out a team from such a large pool of veterans and emerging prospect hopefuls, is that it will inevitably entail saying goodbye to some familiar faces.

Lou Lamoriello has gone on record in the past saying he prefers a balance of rookies, sophomores and veterans to comprise his teams, but the reality exists that there are simply too many capable players at all skater positions. In only the second year of a team wide rebuild,  we can rightfully assume emerging prospects demonstrating they are NHL  ready, will be given a shot.

Another important consideration is cap space, of which the Leafs have none, with the Jared Cowen hearing in early October looming large in this regard. As it stands now however, the Leafs need to make some cap space room and the easiest way to do this is to waive some of the untradeable contracts of veterans for re-assignment to the Marlies. With little fear of any of these players being claimed, it seems like an obvious move.

Subsequently, my Leafs projected opening night roster necessitates the following veterans being waived and essentially buried in the minors.

• Joffrey Lupul
• Brooks Laich
• Peter Holland
• Jared Cowen …In the event of an unfavorable arbitration ruling

More from Toronto Maple Leafs

• Maple Leafs Rumours: Half of NHL teams interested in Ilya Mikheyev
• Toronto Maple Leafs: How to address the goaltender position
• Leafs reward Timothy Liljegren with extension after breakout season
• Maple Leafs: Jack Campbell situation becoming increasingly uncertain
• Jason Spezza retires, joins Toronto Maple Leafs front office

If

Peter Holland

were to play well for the Marlies, he would be the first centre called up as an injury replacement. Unfortunately for him, he is only likely to see spot duty on the third or fourth line for the Leafs, unless he puts together some solid play for an extended period.

Suffice it to say, this season is critical for Holland in determining what the remainder of his NHL career will look like.

After making what I would argue is a reasonable guess of what the Leafs projected opening night roster might look like, the next question is who is on the “Taxi Squad”.

In other words, who are the likely candidates to be called up as injury replacements? I think it is important at this point to divide this group of players into two groups.

Group 1. Those who have just missed the cut, have some NHL experience and would make adequate replacements for roster players at their positions.

Group 2. Players who have played so well in camp and during the preseason that they have forced their way into higher positions on the depth chart and earned an NHL debut when the opportunity or need arises.

The Leafs “Taxi Squad”

Justin Holl

– a right shooting mobile defender who is waiver exempt

Rinat Valiev

– shoots left, has made steady progress in his development, is waiver exempt

Viktor Loov

– shoots left, brings a bit of size and physical play to the table, is waiver exempt

Group 2 Defense. – will likely earn NHL debuts

Andrew Nielsen

– shoots left, turned heads with stellar play at the Leafs rookie tournament, has enormous offensive upside and is waiver exempt.

Travis Dermott

– shoots left, Leaf brass is high on his potential, is waiver exemptGroup 1 Forwards. – injury replacements

Kerby Rychel

– Left winger with 37 games of NHL experience, is waiver exempt

Kasperi Kapanen

– Right Winger with nine games of NHL experience, is waiver exempt

Peter Holland

– Plays centre or wing but is waiver eligibleGroup 2 Forwards. – will likely earn NHL debuts

Tobias Lindberg

– left winger played extremely well at the Leafs rookie tournament, is waiver exempt

Trevor Moore

– a dynamic centre or winger, will force his way up the depth chart, is waiver exempt

Andreas Johnson

– left winger that Leaf brass is really high on, is waiver exempt

Dmytro Timashov

– another dynamic left winger with enormous offensive upside, is waiver exempt

One player whom I think will force himself back into consideration for an NHL call up is Colin Smith. The only issue is that he is on an AHL contract, which would have to be upgraded before he skates with the big club.

Next: Rookie Tournament Day 3 Notes, Thoughts and Observations

It was great fun playing armchair general manager and coach for the Leaf organization and if nothing else, it illustrates the difficult roster decisions that lie ahead. One team need presented itself as a result of this exercise, in that the Leafs need more right wingers in their system.

Do you agree with the choices made here or better yet, try your hand at putting together your own Leafs projected opening night roster.