Monday evening is the last day for teams to get cap compliant ahead of the 2023-24 season and all of the teams made their final cuts. The Leafs were among this group and they placed six players on the waiver wire.
Leafs on waivers:
Benoit, Clifford, Jones, Lagesson, Gambrell, Lavoie
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) October 8, 2023
There are no real surprises here as all of these players were expected to get sent down once the preseason concluded. Now the question is how many of them are able to pass through without getting snagged up by another team tomorrow afternoon.
Martin Jones is the one that feels the most likely to be claimed and this was a scenario Leafs fans have been preparing for ever since the announcement that Andrei Vasilevskiy would miss the first few months of the season. He went 1-0-1 in two preseason appearances, recording an impressive .961 SV% and a 1.29 GAA. Jones was initially signed to be the team’s third-string goalie, so him getting sent down confirms that Joseph Woll has won the backup role.
Simon Benoit did not have a great camp that was derailed by back spasms which resulted in him playing late in the preseason. He ultimately suited up in four contests where he went scoreless, recorded six penalty minutes, eight blocks, and a team-leading 13 hits. Benoit will be given a proper chance to develop since he was put in a tough situation last year on the lowly Ducks and his underlying metrics reflect that.
William Lagesson had a chance to appear early in the season, but with John Klingberg set to be ready for opening night and Mikko Kokkonen having a solid camp, it makes sense why Lagesson was sent down. He scored one goal in three preseason games along with six blocks and four hits. He should provide veteran leadership for the Marlies and will be among the leading candidates to get called up in the event of injuries.
Kyle Clifford was destined to be sent down, but he did have a fairly productive camp as he netted two assists in three preseason games. Dylan Gambrell only appeared in one preseason game where he went scoreless, indicating he was destined for the AHL from the get-go. The same goes for Maxime Lajoie, who also went pointless in two preseason contests.
It is worth noting that all of these players are on expiring contracts and have a cap under $1 million. This combined with the earlier news of Sam Lafferty getting shipped to the Canucks should help the Leafs get cap compliant in time for Wednesday’s season opener.
Now we wait until tomorrow afternoon to see whether the six guys can sneak through to the Marlies or have to take their talents elsewhere in the league.
