Toronto Maple Leafs: Final roster cuts not surprising

The Toronto Maple Leafs made their final roster cuts before the seasons starts and the decisions have left some scratching their heads.

Three more players were expected to be cut by the Toronto Maple Leafs in order to make the roster eligible the start of the regular season and the team finally made the call on Monday morning.

Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard were placed on waivers answering some of the pressing questions when it comes to the backup job and the reserve defencemen.

Sparks making the team over McElhinney ends the drawn-out debate on who should be the team’s backup and maybe a chance for the veteran to stay with the team if he clears waivers.

As Johnston wrote last week for Sportsnet, if McElhinney doesn’t get scooped up he can play as many as nine games in the NHL after clearing waivers without having to pass through them again.

Maybe the Leafs decide to do this or maybe they’re comfortable going with Sparks in the meantime and see if McElhinney is still an option if the team needs to make a change down the road.

Originally, it was announced that Connor Carrick would be put on waivers but Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reported that the team decided to take him off.

Some are left scratching their heads not because of who was put on waivers but who was left on the roster. One player is Martin Marincin who clearly fell out of favour last season and didn’t have an overwhelmingly strong training camp.

There are some wondering why Marincin was kept over Carrick considering the 26-year-old probably has a better chance to clear waivers but it looks like the salary cap played into this decision according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.

Depending on how the Carrick situation plays out, it is clear that the team doesn’t have him in their long-term plans.

What do you think about the Leafs final roster decisions? Do you agree with them or did they make the wrong choice? Let us know in the comments below.