Leafs place veteran on waivers, re-call trio of prospects on Tuesday
The Leafs are coming off of an embarrassing effort on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets and as the trade deadline nears, it's abundantly clear that this team is not the one the Leafs can afford to enter the postseason with. To simplify - the Leafs will almost certainly be adding at this year's deadline and perhaps even multiple pieces. As a result, they'll have to trim the fat and find some cap savings. They got that ball rolling on Tuesday.
Per TSN's Chris Johnston, the Leafs have placed veteran winger Wayne Simmonds on waivers. Simmonds carries a $900K cap hit, which is $150K more than some of their other depth pieces who are on league-minimum $750K deals.
Simmonds hasn't been a fixture in the Leafs' lineup this year, playing just 13 games and notching just one assist for the Buds.
The hope here is that Simmonds will clear and then be eligible to move up and down between the AHL and NHL freely until after the trade deadline has come and gone. Of course, if he is claimed, he hasn't exactly been a steady contributor for the Buds this season and they can afford to lose him, as unfortunate as that would be for the fanbase, who enjoys Simmonds' nasty brand of hockey.
Aside from the Simmonds news, the Leafs have also announced that they have recalled goaltender Joseph Woll and forwards Alex Steeves and Pontus Holmberg from the Toronto Marlies. In a subsequent move the Maple Leafs have also re-assigned goaltender Erik Kallgren.
The re-called trio were loaned to the Marlies on Monday ahead of their game against the Manitoba Moose. The Marlies ended up winning the game by a score of 4-2, Woll played 40 minutes and made 21 saves on 22 shots, Steeves scored the game winning goal, and Holmberg assisted on the goal itself.
Holmberg has played in 35 games for the Leafs this season, scoring 5 goals and 13 points, while Steeves has 2 games under his belt this season, going pointless, and averaging 8:41 TOI. He played in 3 games last year with the Leafs and tallied an assist.
As for Woll, he made his season debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets on home-ice on the back-end of their home-and-home series this weekend. He made 40 saves in the loss - a game in which Sheldon Keefe was disappointed, flabbergasted, and upset with his team's compete level. In the AHL, Woll posted a 14-1 record with a 2.32 GAA and a .931 SV%.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 14 | 155 ANSWERS Leafs place veteran on waivers, re-call trio of prospects on Tuesday How many NHL games will Joseph Woll play in this season? | ||
| 3 or less | 48 | 31 % |
| 4-7 | 83 | 53.5 % |
| 8-10 | 24 | 15.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
