Leafs have a chance to pluck a big, mean, right-shot defenseman for free
The Leafs never seem to have any luck when it comes to the waiver wire. Almost every player that they've tried to sneak through in the past few years has been claimed. It's even been reported that other teams would claim players just to mess with them. The only exception in the past few seasons was Jason Spezza, who pulled a power move and threatened to retire if claimed.
Now, however, the Leafs have a chance to not only flip the script on waiver pickups, but also make a solid addition to their team while hurting a divisional rival. The Tampa Bay Lightning placed defenseman Zach Bogosian on waivers today. The big-bodied, hard-hitting defender played one season for the Leafs during the cursed COVID season before heading back to Tampa as a UFA on a multi-year deal.
Claiming Bogosian would give the Leafs the big, mean defenseman they are sorely lacking at the moment on the back end. The best part? With Sam Lafferty being shipped to Vancouver and Martin Jones being placed on waivers, the Leafs actually have the cap space to do it. Hypothetically, they could run a 21-man roster with Bogosian on it until Connor Timmins is ready to return from injury. At that point, they would have to make a decision on whether or not to keep the 33-year-old veteran, waive him again or move one of the other defensemen they have now. Either way, the smart move now is to claim Bogosian and figure out the rest later.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 8 | 374 ANSWERS Leafs have a chance to pluck a big, mean, right-shot defenseman for free Should the Leafs claim Bogosian? | ||
| Definitely! We need him! | 201 | 53.7 % |
| No, he's too slow | 86 | 23 % |
| Someone else is going to claim him first | 87 | 23.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
