Insider Reveals Rationale Behind Maple Leafs' More Immediate Roster Plans
NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman has revealed why the Maple Leafs chose to keep 28 roster players and go the LTIR route instead of completing a trade or demoting additional players.
Yesterday, we saw the Maple Leafs place Jani Hakanpaa, Calle Jarnkrok and Dakota Mermis on LTIR, while placing Fraser Minten and Connor Dewar on season-opening injured reserve. After signing Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz following their successful PTOs, the Leafs got within $1 of their LTIR limit and have a healthy 13 forwards and 8 defensemen. Monday afternoon, shortly after the signings of Pacioretty and Lorentz were announced, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman was on The FAN 590, discussing why the Leafs chose to carry an expanded roster with LTIR instead of accruing cap space.
As Friedman noted, they wanted to create a sense of urgency in their roster and the Leafs certainly accomplished that with a pair of regulars last season on the outside looking in with Timothy Liljegren and Bobby McMann currently set up as the healthy scratches.
The Leafs are looking for the internal competition to continue for the first month of the season before they make any final decisions. Some may see the constant competition to be a hinderance for players to settle into roles or play their games effectively, but the reality is that having to fight for a spot in the lineup every game is supposed to entice players to bring their best effort game in and game out.
The Leafs don't have to rush into any decision about trading a player or two to become cap compliant, but how certain players perform over the next 30 days will likely play a very big role in how the Leafs shuffle their roster when players return from LTIR.
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