Additionally, the Leafs have three salary retention spots at their disposal, they should use them all. Through health assessments between now and the trade deadline, the Leafs need to see if they can open up some cap space via LTIR and use that as well.
Most importantly, the Leafs need to find buyers and determine who they are selling and who they are keeping. Today we’ll take a look at the forwards before moving onto the defence and goaltenders in a future post.
Staying put
Chris Tanev
Tanev’s health makes him a non-starter at the moment and the recovery process will impact what comes next. If Tanev was healthy and performing at the level he was at previously, he should still be in the stay category unless an absurd overpayment was thrown in the Leafs direction.
Joseph Woll
The Leafs need a retool, not a rebuild, and dumping Woll now seems more like a rebuild move as Stolarz and Hildeby is not a functional tandem. No goaltender is perfect, but Woll has given the Leafs consistent results.
Dennis Hildeby
Hildeby could very well be part of the Leafs tandem next season and while no one is truly untouchable it’s hard to make a case for the Leafs moving on from a young goaltender who has shown he can handle the job in the NHL.
Listen on them
Jake McCabe
His age makes it so you can’t call him completely untouchable, but the Leafs can’t move on from a defenceman who is quite good when given a solid partner. This hasn’t been McCabe’s best year, but besides Tanev, he’s the defenceman it makes the most sense to keep around. In contrast, if the Leafs aren’t able to move out the players they want to and they are getting calls on McCabe they should be open to anything that allows a change of direction on the blueline.
Anthony Stolarz
If someone is willing to overlook how Stolarz has done this season and value him at the level he was at last season, selling seems like a good idea. It’s also possible that the best offer for Stolarz might come over the summer after the goaltending free agent market has been exhausted so there’s no rush if the Leafs are looking to make a move at all. Given their goaltenders health, having three NHL capable netminders isn’t a bad thing.
Morgan Rielly
The no movement clause means the ball is Morgan Rielly’s court to whether a trade can happen at all. And as critical as people are of Rielly, you still don’t move him just for the sake of moving him. The Leafs need a decent return on a player that realistically just needs to be right sized in the lineup and no longer see top competition and big minutes.
Troy Stecher
If there is a pending unrestricted free agent that the Leafs should prioritize bringing back, it’s the guy who has played his butt off from day one of being a Leaf. That said, if Stecher expects a multi-year deal or cap hit that can’t be completely buried in the AHL, he’s overstayed his welcome and there should be some team interested in him.
Brandon Carlo
Fraser Minten was rookie of the month for January and there is a possibility the Leafs are handing Boston a draft pick as high as sixth overall. To top it off, Brandon Carlo was never going to play close to the level of that return but he also hasn’t given the Leafs anything close to what they got out of Ilya Lyubushkin when he was the Leafs’ deadline defensive acquisition, so it’s been a mess all around.
Parting ways seems like the humane thing to do, but with so many other changes coming to the Leafs between now and the offseason, maybe some combination of a new partner, new coach and renewed optimism in the offseason might make him worth keeping for another year unless someone comes at Brad Treliving with an overpayment.
Matt Benning
If there are unused salary retention spots available at the 11th hour of the trade deadline and someone will give up an asset for Matt Benning, great. If not, Benning is capable of eating minutes down the stretch for the Leafs as they run out the season and someone has to play.
Henry Thrun
Thrun hasn’t pushed for a spot in the Leafs lineup like you would have hoped for, and as a pending restricted free agent, it is possible the Leafs will simply move on from him at the end of the season. That said, he hasn’t had a serious run in the lineup and he might get that post trade deadline and make a case for playing in Toronto. It wouldn’t take much for the Leafs to trade him but it seems like an AHLer for AHLer move rather than a chance to pick up futures.
Sell
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
OEL is the poster child for selling high on the Leafs. There is a need around the league for minute eating offensive defencemen and like Domi, having faith that he will maintain his success next season is a gamble Toronto shouldn’t make when he is legitimately worth a first round pick at this point.
Simon Benoit
Benoit is the type of defencemen that the Leafs typically overpay for every trade deadline and it would be nice to see Toronto get a free third or fourth round pick for someone who clears space in the lineup for Thrun/Villeneuve/Rifai to get a serious look.
Philippe Myers
If someone is asking, the Leafs should be selling.
The Rest
I’m not sure that a Dakota Mermis or Marshall Rifai opinion is warranted here or that it would differ significantly from Myers, Thrun, or Benning. Others like William Villeneuve or Topi Niemela are very much listen on them options but require another organization’s scouting department to be overly excited about them.
At this point, Noah Chadwick, Victor Johansson, and Ben Danford should be staying without question outside of a blockbuster deal that no one should be expecting from the Leafs in the next couple of months.