The Toronto Maple Leafs have been dealing with several lineup issues this season. Their goaltending has struggled due to Joseph Woll’s leave of absence. It's forced Anthony Stolarz into a heavy workload, and their blueline has played shorthanded due to shutdown defenseman Chris Tanev suffering a pair of concussions. Conversely, the issues up front have lingered since the summer, when the club added a trio of depth forwards via trades.
But conversely, the issues up front have lingered since the summer, when the club added a trio of depth forwards via trades.
The Leafs were unable to find a top-six replacement for departed free agent Mitch Marner, but bolstered their bottom six, acquiring Nicolas Roy from Vegas in the Marner sign-and-trade, Dakota Joshua in a swap with Vancouver, and Matias Maccelli in a deal with Utah. Both the Joshua and Maccelli deals involved a trade of draft picks and created a logjam up front.
Veterans David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, and youngster Nick Robertson were all on uncertain footing going into the off-season. Kampf played only 59 games last season under new head coach Craig Berube after being an everyday starter under Sheldon Keefe. Jarnkrok missed nearly all of last season due to injury and played a fourth-line role in the playoffs, while Robertson scored 15 goals in limited ice time during the regular season and played only three of the club’s 13 playoff games.
Toronto let the buyout window prior to free agency pass without clearing out Kampf’s remaining two years or Jarnkrok's final year, because both had deals with heavy signing bonuses that would have provided little cap relief, and the Leafs avoided arbitration with Robertson. GM Brad Treliving was rumored to have pursued trade scenarios with all three, but Kampf’s remaining term and Jarnkrok’s injury history may have factored into his ability to pull something off.
The group became even more crowded when winger Sammy Blais (who played for Berube in St. Louis) was claimed off waivers from Montreal, and rookie Easton Cowan earned his way onto the roster with an excellent training camp.
Robertson reportedly was offered to Columbus for winger Yegor Chinakhov over the summer, but there wasn't any interest from the Blue Jackets. The issue with the 24-year-old forward has not been his talent and scoring ability, but his fit in the Leafs' lineup as a bottom-six winger. In Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Boston, Robertson scored his fourth goal of the season, but was -2 on the night in just under 16 minutes of ice time.
Kampf was placed on waivers at the end of training camp and, after clearing waivers, played four games for the AHL Toronto Marlies before leaving the club to contemplate his future. According to numerous reports, the 30-year-old Czech is contemplating terminating his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that a possible hangup is that Kampf would have to return a portion of the $1.325 million signing bonus the Leafs paid him in July.
Jarnkrok and Blais have both played well as rotational players in and out of the lineup, and Cowan did not seem out of place in the NHL in 10 games this season, scoring his first NHL goal in Philadelphia last week. But the 20-year-old was demoted to the Marlies with the return of Scott Laughton on Wednesday against Utah. That return lasted exactly five periods, as Laughton was hit by Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov on Saturday and will not play against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
One of the contributing factors to the Leafs' inconsistent start has been Berube’s constant stirring of his forward lines, searching for a replacement for Marner in the top six. Through 15 games, Toronto has used Maccelli, Max Domi, Cowan, and have fallen back on putting William Nylander with Matthews and Matthew Knies on an overloaded top line. Treliving has reportedly been on a search for a top-six remedy since the summer, and will likely continue that quest between now and the trade deadline. Until then, the Leafs will continue to search for answers from within.
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