With Simmonds coming up, Kral going down and Liljegren coming back, the Leafs have at least one more roster move coming

Why is that relevant? Because the Leafs are also expected to activate defenseman Timothy Liljegren from LTIR - which would put the Leafs over the 23-man roster limit. In other words, another move is coming from the Buds.

It's anyone's guess who goes down at this point. The smart money is on one of Pontus Holmberg or Nick Robertson, who would not need to clear waivers to be sent down. However, there's also Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who is on a one-year deal with the Leafs worth $1M. That's probably more than they want to pay a depth forward to sit in the press box.

Could we see Aube-Kubel land on waivers today at 2pm? There's certainly a chance. It would also help the Leafs in a way, because the team is currently at 50/50 contract slots. So if the Buds did indeed waive Aube-Kubel and if he ends up being claimed by another team, it would free up a contract slot that could give the Leafs a bit of additional flexibility to either sign another player, bring in an extra body via trade or claim someone else off of waivers. Freeing up a contract slot is also a necessity for the Buds if they want to sign 2021 2nd round pick Matthew Knies to his ELC in the spring, once his NCAA season concludes.