Of all of the NHL teams Vegas Golden Knights architect George McPhee fleeced through the 2017 expansion draft en route to the 2018 Stanley Cup final and a GM of the Year trophy, the Toronto Maple Leafs were not one.
The Leafs refused to play any of McPhee’s reindeer games and simply surrendered Brendan Leipsic through Vegas’s leaguewide shopping spree.
Sure, Leipsic was an intriguing prospect at the time. The left winger was hot off scoring 51 points in 49 games for the AHL Marlies when McPhee took him for free. But who knew Leipsic’s most prolific pro season was already over?
Leipsic’s 44-game stint with the Knights ended with a trade to Vancouver. He bounced to Los Angeles to Washington to Moscow, where, waived from the NHL at age 26, today he is a contributor to a powerhouse CSKA squad in the KHL.
The odds of the 2020 Seattle expansion draft turning out so pain-free for the Maple Leafs fall somewhere between slim and none.
Toronto’s roster is deeper and more proven now. The Maple Leafs should lose an NHL-level asset they like.
Yet the Leafs’ front office holds an intriguing asset who will do his best to mitigate the damage.
Prior to joining Toronto in 2018, assistant general manager Laurence Gilman helped design the NHL expansion draft rules for Vegas and Seattle, a “fascinating” project he feels fortunate to have had a hand in.
“What I can bring to the Toronto Maple Leafs is that I’ve figuratively sat in the chair of the expansion draft team,” said Gilman. “I know how they’re thinking and how they’re trying to harvest assets.
“At the same time, I’ve also sat in the chair of 30 NHL teams: How are they thinking? Where are they vulnerable? How are they going to use the expansion draft? Different teams have different motivations to make player transactions. A lot of teams look at the expansion draft as an opportunity for them to divest themselves of some players or — if they’re sharp — acquire players in advance of the expansion draft from other teams that are vulnerable.”
Gilman isn’t so certain the term “expansion draft” accurately describes what Kraken GM Ron Francis and his staff will be working towards for 2021.
“An expansion draft is what took place when Columbus and Minnesota’s draft took place in 2000. This is a harvest,” Gilman said.
“I have a unique perspective that will help my GM [Kyle Dubas], who I think is smarter than I am, and [fellow Leafs AGM and capologist] Brandon Pridham, whom I work with and is an incredibly smart guy.”
Here are some key expansion draft rules Gilman helped establish (and how they apply to Toronto in 2021):
• All players with no-movement clauses at the time of the draft, and who decline to waive those clauses, must be protected and will be counted toward their team’s applicable protection limits.
Captain John Tavares is the only Leaf holding a full no-move clause. Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie’s no-move clauses expire and become no-trade clauses after the 2020-21 season.
• All first- and second-year NHLers and all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection and will not be counted toward protection limits.
What’s interesting here is that Dubas may re-sign some of these players prior to the draft, requiring protection. Further, an impending UFA could be re-signed with the purpose of meeting exposure requirements — which is our explanation for, say, Jake Allen’s extension in Montreal and the structure of Braden Holtby’s contract in Vancouver.
To minimize their loss in the Kraken’s culling, the first choice the Leafs’ brain trust will have to make is whether to protect seven forwards, three defenceman and one goaltender (7-3-1) or eight skaters and one goalie (8-1).
The majority of clubs opted for the first option in 2017 and should do so again because it protects 11 players in total. The second option, which only protects nine total, is a sensible route for rosters holding four or more valuable defencemen and few desirable forwards.
Let’s examine the Leafs’ potential expansion vulnerabilities and strategies by position.
Take away the veteran UFAs uncertain to re-sign (Thornton, Simmonds, Vesey, etc.) and the younger exempt players (Robertson, Mikheyev, Barabanov, Egor Korshkov, Filip Hallander), and the list of exposed forwards isn’t a long one.
If the Leafs re-sign impending UFA Zach Hyman, which is believed to be their desire, he’d have to be protected as well.
For example: What if a wildcard like Vesey thrives in the Leafs’ top nine and Dubas wants to turn him into something more than just a one-year rental?
Kerfoot, in particular — because he carries the largest cap hit of this bunch ($3.5 million) — could solidify himself as a must-keep or a must-expose player. Engvall (RFA 2022) faces a make-or-break campaign in this regard as well.
By signing a team-friendly, three-year deal this off-season, we believe Anderson improved his chances of being protected.
Our best guess today: Dubas protects seven forwards — Tavares, Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Hyman, Anderson and Kerfoot — and Seattle must decide to scoop a skilled prospect like Brooks, a utility forward like Engvall, or one of the Leafs’ top five…
DEFENCEMEN
Were the expansion draft today, Morgan Rielly (UFA 2022) would join Muzzin and Brodie (both UFA 2024) as the easy D-men to protect.
Dangling Justin Holl (UFA 2023) and Travis Dermott (RFA 2021) in front of Francis would provide the GM with two serious options to consider.
Dermott, 23, is cheap ($874,125), still a year away from arbitration, and believed to have a higher ceiling.
The 28-year-old Holl brings contract certainty and more of the coaches’ trust. If Seattle can get two seasons out of Holl at a $2 million cap hit, that’s not shabby.
Our bet: Francis finds his forwards elsewhere and steals whomever of Dermott and Holl performs best in 2021.
Depending on how the players perform, however, there could be some moving pieces here. Dubas made a point to not give $5-million defencemen Muzzin or Brodie expansion protection in their 2020 negotiations, leaving the door open to expose one of them should their performance fall off a cliff.
What if Brodie and Rielly can’t conjure chemistry? What if a wildcard like Sandin or Lehtonen or Dermott leapfrogs into the top four? What if pending UFA Bogosian looks indispensable and Toronto feels a need to re-sign and protect him?
We’re not saying these situations are likely, but this flexibility is something to keep in mind as 2020-21 plays out.
“[Protecting] 8-1 is possible,” says CapFriendly.com‘s Jamie Davis. “They need to leave one defenceman unprotected who meets the exposure requirements, and at the end of the season both Dermott and Holl are expected to meet those requirements.
“The team needs to decide if Holl is more valuable to them than both of Kerfoot and Hyman. At the present time, that seems highly unlikely, but it’s possible.
“If Hyman isn’t extended, the question may come down to: Protect Holl or Kerfoot?”
GOALTENDERS
Only one goalie can be protected. Each team must make available one goalie who is already under contract for 2021-22 or who will be a restricted free agent at the end of his current contract immediately prior to 2021-22.
Toronto’s netminding prospects, Woll and Ian Scott, are exempt. Frederik Andersen and Aaron Dell are pending UFAs.
That leaves Jack Campbell and Michael Hutchinson (both UFA 2022) at risk. If nothing changes, the latter will be exposed. But if the Leafs re-sign Andersen, or trade for a new starter, Campbell will suddenly be at risk.
The bet here is that it’ll be a moot point.
Seattle will find two or three better goalie options elsewhere, with the likes of Dallas’ Anton Khudobin, Ottawa’s Matt Murray, St. Louis’s Ville Husso, Montreal’s Allen, and Vancouver’s Holtby among the potentially exposed.
Vancouver Canucks winger Dakota Joshua is set to make his season debut Thursday after missing time for cancer treatment.
Head coach Rick Tocchet says Joshua will slot into the lineup Thursday when Vancouver (8-3-3) hosts the New York Islanders.
The 28-year-old from Dearborn, Mich., was diagnosed with testicular cancer this summer and underwent surgery in early September.
He spoke earlier this month about his recovery, saying it had been “very hard to go through” and that he was thankful for support from his friends, family, teammates and fans.
“That was a scary time but I am very thankful and just happy to be in this position still and be able to go out there and play,,” Joshua said following Thursday’s morning skate.
The cancer diagnosis followed a career season where Joshua contributed 18 goals and 14 assists across 63 regular-season games, then added four goals and four assists in the playoffs.
Now, he’s ready to focus on contributing again.
“I expect to be good, I don’t expect a grace period. I’ve been putting the work in so I expect to come out there and make an impact as soon as possible,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be perfect right from the get-go, but it’s about putting your best foot forward and working your way to a point of perfection.”
The six-foot-three, 206-pound Joshua signed a four-year, US$13-million contract extension at the end of June.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
