There’s really nothing to report. Besides some murmurs that the Leafs are still on the hunt for one more top 6 player, things around the team (and the NHL) appear to be at a standstill.
This is the norm for this time of year. There’s always a rash of movement before and after the deadline, then teams enter the “let’s see what we have at training camp” part of the summer. Maybe a prospect steps up, maybe a veteran regresses, until you see skates on the ice again it’s impossible to say for sure. Once teams know what they have they will look to fix their rosters once again.
With that said, it’s not as if summertime trades and/or signings are unheard of, they’re just more rare.
What we do know is the Leafs have 15 forwards that played at least 25 games in the NHL last season and 14 that played at least 50. They also have 8 defenders that played at least 36 NHL games, with Philippe Myers having played the least amount of games. When you stack the Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz tandem on top of all of that it will give you 25 players, so something has to give.
Things could be as simple as waiving some of the players further down the depth chart. Do they still feel strongly about Myers moving forward, or do they see the newly acquired Henry Thrun as their new 7th defender?
Or are they happy with Myers and consider Thrun a business decision, aka the required player that San Jose insisted they take back in the Ryan Reaves trade? In that case they may opt to try to move Thrun to the Marlies, which also could mean losing him to the waiver wire.
Is Michael Pezzetta simply a depth option that they always intended to try to have on the Marlies? Waiving him and one of Thrun or Myers strengthens the Marlies if they make it there, while solving the numbers issues with the Leafs.
All of this also ignores the existence of Easton Cowan, a prospect that some insist is ready for NHL action. If there is even a hint of doubt about his readiness I, for one, would be happy to see him spend an entire season in the AHL, where he can further develop and get used to the rigors of a long season against bigger, stronger opponents. If he is ready then so be it, give him a spot on the NHL roster, but that only furthers the need to make trades before the season begins on October 8th.
As July dwindles away, we’re less than two months away from pre-season, where some of these questions will quickly have answers. In the meantime, enjoy the sun!!