Team: 2016-17 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Sep. 20, 2016

Published: Sep. 20, 2016

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Heads up this one isn't very exciting.

This focuses on line combinations, waivers and potential trades. I suggest watching Bob McKenzie's training camp video for the Leafs as he provides some goood insight. I got some information from him and am using for my team breakdown.

Forwards:

Line 1:

This is the pesky defensive, hard to play against line that will face the opposing teams best lines. They'll play a lot of hard minutes (pk, defensive zone starts and against the best players) the hope is they can excel at a two way game and maybe score a little bit too.

Line 2:

This line is our goal scoring line. Matthews has shown he is quite the force at the WCH, working his way up to the first line as the youngest player. I think we want to give him an environment he can succeed in, JVR I think plays a very straight north/south game and can keep up with Matthews speed, and Nylander will continue to develop his excellent playmaking abilities and hopefully this line can pot quite a few goals in. With this line I could see Mattews doing very well, potentially reaching 60 points (I know a long shot and I'm not counting on it).

Line 3:

This line will play some good minutes, Bozak is there to dish the puck out to Marner so he can skill around the ice. Martin is there for protection. This line will play some decent amount, Bozak would be a VERY good 3rd line center. Hopefully Marner can hit 40 points this year but he may have some growing pains but thats alright.

Line 4:

A mish-mash of players, I think they want to give Leivo a legitimate shot at being an NHL player and I think he can be, I think at best he could be a third line winger that can hit and shoot the puck. Holland will be a great 4th line center and hopefully they'll play him a bit more to take the pressure off of Matthews. Soshnikov will make his case for an NHL career and hopefully he can start looking like a solid top nine option in a couple years.

Extras:

Greening showed some good potential and I could see him swapping with Leivo a little bit. Brooks Laich is a management favourite and will be a great leader for this young team, even if its from the Press Box for a lot of games. Michalek controls his own destiny, if he can prove he can play I'm sure he'll get some games in and then potentially get traded to a contender for some picks.

Next in Line:

Really will depend on who excels with Marlies but heres my next in line call order:
-Connor Brown
-Brendan Leipsic
-Byron Froese (Babcock Fav)
-Trevor Moore
-Andreas Johnson

Defense:

1st Pairing:

Rielly has proven that he is one of the best up and coming blue liners in the league. This also isn't just the Toronto market being the Toronto market because he's the ice time leader for team NA, which features Seth Jones, Ryan Murray, Colton Parayko, Jacob Trouba, and Shayne Gostisbehere. He makes players around him better and that's why I have Marincin paired with him. The hope is Marincin can be a bargain top pairing defenseman, he's great for analytics and hopefully can develop his defensive game so that we limit opportunities.

2nd Pairing:

Gardiner is surpisingly a good two way NHL defenseman even though he's thought of as just an offensive force. I really encourage you to read up on this article of him (http://theleafsnation.com/2016/9/6/jake-gardiner-is-really-good-defensively). Zaitsev, a KHL all-star that's been playing for a weak Russia defense has proven he is NHL capable and will round out the top 4 nicely.

3rd Pairing:

Matt Hunwick is a Babcock favourite and will play most of his time killing penalities and blocking shots, hopefully he can relieve the burden on the young defenseman. Polak rounds out the top six, and although is often thought of as not an NHLer he is a good pro that will bring some physicality to the blue line.

Extras:

Connor Carrick had a spectacular AHL post season and looks to improve off it. He looks to be a Powerplay specialist and could make his way up the depth chart early in the year. Frankie Corrado was claimed off waivers last year and was subsequently sat for half the season. I would imagine he won't play much early this year, however if a team is looking for a very cheap depth defenseman, he could find himself traded for a really low pick.

Next in Line:

Again, will depend on play in the AHL but here's my next in line call order:
-viktor Loov (23 now, he needs some ice time in the NHL)
-Justin Holl
-Rinat Valiev
-Andrew Nielsen
-Travis Dermott

Goaltending is very self-explainatory, Andersen is our starter, Enroth is the backup, call ups are based off performance.


I think the Leafs have a lot of options heading into training camp trade wise. I could see a Grabner like trade, the Leafs have some extra bodies (Greening, Michalek, Corrado) and I could see them being moved for 1 player with an expensive expiring contract (Iginla, Streit, Wideman etc).