The final cuts are in: Defencemen Timothy Liljegren and Calle Rosen will join the Toronto Marlies, while Roman Polak has been released from his Professional Tryout Agreement.
The Toronto Maple Leafs roster has been trimmed down to 23 players (14 forwards, seven defencemen, two goalies) as of the 5 p.m. roster deadline.
While Rosen wasn’t as impactful later in preseason as he was earlier on, there wasn’t a whole lot between him and Borgman, and this decision likely came down to Borgman providing a few of the elements that the Leafs’ blue line group lacks overall.
Without Roman Polak on the team to start the year, it might not be particularly surprising that Mike Babcock desired a heavier element on the blue line, which Borgman – who Babcock has suggested weighs 230 pounds — showed he can provide in preseason with a series of big hits and even a fight in his first preseason game. It’s also likely that the coaching staff feels Borgman (with his size and ability to box out in front of the net) can be of more use in penalty killing situations than Rosen can at this point, which is another plus working in Borgman’s favour after the loss of Polak and Matt Hunwick, the team’s top penalty-killing defencemen last season.
Borgman also demonstrated in his exhibition performances that he carries his weight very well on the ice as far as his skating ability to go along with a powerful point shot. There is no doubting he’s still raw defensively, however; he’s an NHL rookie entering just his second professional season and it remains to be seen how the 21-year-old will fare in his first real NHL action. Babcock and Lamoriello have been clear that nothing is set in stone as the evaluation process continues in the first dozen or so games of the regular season.
I just think the biggest thing is when you’re heavy. My buddy is a fireman and he always tells me, “If you drive a big vehicle, no matter how many airbags are in the little vehicle, the big vehicle wins every time.” When you’re 230 and you’re bumping into 190, the bigger guy wins. That doesn’t mean you’re doing anything different than anyone else; it’s just the wear and tear of the league. When you run into him, people fall over. His edges are elite as well, so he can make that good breakout pass. Now, does he have a lot to learn? Absolutely. But we like a lot of things about him.
– Mike Babcock on Andreas Borgman, Oct. 3, 2017
Martin Marincin will also remain among the team’s seven defencemen primarily due to waivers and penalty-kill considerations.
The Leafs also received word today that Joffrey Lupul failed his league physical and has been ruled eligible for Long Term Injury Reserve. With 14 forwards and seven defencemen on the roster, the Leafs are $4.85 million over the cap, with $5.3 million in LTIR relief available on Nathan Horton’s contract and an additional $5.25 million available on Lupul’s.
No real shock, but belief is Lupul failed independent physical because of his back. Had surgery with #Ducks for disc issue, never the same.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 3, 2017
To say the Leafs now have ample cap “space” available wouldn’t technically be accurate. They are over the cap and receiving relief, which will lead to further bonus overage penalties next year, and they aren’t “pocketing” or “banking” any space in the daily cap calculations. However, the Lupul news does add significant flexibility. The Leafs now enter the season with a full 23-man roster with over $5 million in cap space relief available to them, as opposed to a few hundred thousand without the Lupul relief. That opens some options should the Leafs look to add the piece they’ve been looking for on their backend at some point, and/or make any deadline additions come February.
Projected Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Night Lineup
Forwards
Hyman – Matthews – Nylander
JvR – Bozak – Marner
Marleau – Kadri – Komarov
Martin – Fehr/Moore – Brown
Extras: Leivo, Moore/Fehr
Defencemen
Gardiner – Zaitsev
Rielly – Hainsey
Borgman – Carrick
Extra: Marincin
Goalies
Andersen
McElhinney
Toronto Maple Leafs Training Camp Roster Breakdown – October 3, 2017
| Roster (24) | Marlies | Jr | EU |
|---|---|---|---|
| T. Bozak | C. Rosen | R. McGregor | C. Grundstrom |
| Z. Hyman | T. Liljegren | K. Middleton | |
| N. Kadri | B. Smith | E. Rasanen | |
| van Riemsdyk | K. Rychel | F. Gordeev | |
| L. Komarov | C. Greening | N. Mattinen | |
| M. Martin | V. LoVerde | I. Scott | |
| A. Matthews | C. Mueller | ||
| W. Nylander | N. Soshnikov | ||
| M. Marner | K. Kapanen | ||
| D. Moore | M. Aaltonen | ||
| P. Marleau | T. Dermott | ||
| C. Brown | A. Johnsson | ||
| J. Leivo* | J. Bracco | ||
| E. Fehr* | M. Dzierkals | ||
| M. Rielly | A. Brooks | ||
| N. Zaitsev | R. Clune | ||
| C. Carrick | J. Dupuy | ||
| R. Hainsey | F. Gauthier | ||
| J. Gardiner | T. Moore | ||
| M. Marincin* | M. Novak | ||
| A. Borgman | J. Piccinich | ||
| F. Andersen | K. Pospisil | ||
| C. McElhinney | D. Timashov | ||
| J. Winquist | |||
| M. Marchment | |||
| V. Bobylev | |||
| T. Lindberg | |||
| A. Gudbranson | |||
| J. Holl | |||
| J. King | |||
| M. Cleland | |||
| A. Nielsen | |||
| R. Valiev | |||
| M. Paliotta | |||
| C. Heeter | |||
| K. Kaskisuo | |||
| G. Sparks |
