The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to open training camp in the coming days, but they may not be done adding to their roster.
The Maple Leafs focused on adding more depth pieces this offseason to be a deeper and harder team to play against. Yet, Toronto has also been linked to adding Jack Roslovic all offseason, and NHL insider Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star believes the Maple Leafs should take a flier on him.
McGran believes Roslovic is a wild card, as you don’t really know what you are getting with him, but it is worth a shot.
“Yes, I’ll agree the Leafs have more depth. Their fourth line should be as good as many third lines, big and able to score a bit,” McGran wrote. “As for Roslovic, that’s a bit of a wild card. He’d obviously push someone out of a job and they already have too many forwards. I’d say if the price is right — i.e. under $2 million on a one-year deal — they might bite. Otherwise they’ll go with what they have.”
Roslovic is coming off a good season with the Carolina Hurricanes, as he recorded 22 goals and 17 assists for 39 points in 81 games. However, he did struggle in the playoffs, but when he’s on his game, he could be a top-six forward for the Maple Leafs and add some secondary scoring.
If Roslovic signs for cheap, it likely is worth the risk for the Maple Leafs, as McGran notes.
Maple Leafs Coach Likes Team’s Depth
Although Toronto lost Mitch Marner this offseason, the Maple Leafs added the likes of Nic Roy, Dakota Joshua, Mattias Maccelli, and Michael Pezzetta.
The Maple Leafs will have a revamped bottom-six, which will make Toronto harder to play against. Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube is also eager about the team’s depth, as he believes they are much deeper.
“Listen, he touched all areas of the game for us — penalty kill, power play, five on five. He’s a guy that’s hard to replace. You’re not replacing him,” Berube said to The Athletic. “But we brought in three new players — Roy, Joshua and Maccelli, all sorta different types of players — but I feel like we’re probably a deeper team, bringing in the three guys. We talk about replacing Mitch; that’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re just trying to improve our team in other ways by adding these players.”
Although the Maple Leafs lost a true star player, Toronto is banking on them being more well-rounded and deeper, which will help them win come the playoffs.
Toronto Isn’t Ruling Out Making More Moves
The Maple Leafs adding another forward would be a surprise, as Toronto already has an excess of forwards.
However, Toronto could trade the likes of David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, and Nick Robertson. So, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving isn’t ruling out the team making more moves.
“We’re always looking. I don’t think you ever stop. Whether it happens or not, we’ll see. We’ve got a lot of bodies right now, so we’ll see. More than likely, unless something changes. We’ll go with what we’ve got and see where it all sorts itself out,” Treliving said.
Toronto has nearly $2 million in cap space.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Insider Urges Maple Leafs to Add ‘Wild Card’ Forward to Add More Depth appeared first on Heavy Sports.