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The final cuts are in, save one more decision to come: Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard have been waived, while Connor Carrick has been dealt to the Dallas Stars for a conditional 2019 seventh-round draft pick.

The most hotly-debated decision will be the choice to go with Garret Sparks in the backup role for now, even despite a less-than-stellar couple of preseason showings. 25 years old and coming off of a Calder Cup championship and AHL goaltender of the year honours, Sparks will be given the chance to prove he can do the job as a backup in the NHL to start the season. One could easily picture Mike Babcock’s preference being with the veteran he’s come to trust in the past two seasons in McElhinney — though that’s nothing more than speculation — but Kyle Dubas has final say on the roster and has gone with the younger asset who might represent more long-term value to the organization.

If McElhinney passes through — which is no guarantee, as he had the best numbers of any backup (goalies with more than 10 starts but fewer than 30) last season — he could stay with the big club and the Leafs could run with three goaltenders for the time being.  If that’s the case, it extends the evaluation process between Sparks and McElhinney into the regular season. While it gives the Leafs added insurance, the downside of that is that it creates a bit of an unnecessary distraction at a secondary position on the roster. Dubas has also mentioned that it’s not ideal to have two goaltenders splitting the development time and practice reps; knowing that, if McElhinney passes through, he may join the Marlies for the time being.

It may not come to that, as there are a few teams that could use McElhinney (or Calvin Pickard, for that matter). One might be Carolina, who could stand to add another NHL goaltender in addition to Petr Mrazek if Scott Darling’s injury sustained in preseason this past weekend is going to sideline him for any significant length of time.

The risk Dubas has taken here is if both Pickard and McElhinney are claimed, leaving them one backup option in Sparks who hasn’t proven he can get the job done yet in the NHL.

On defense, the team has kept Justin Holl and Martin Marincin as extras, while trading Connor Carrick for a conditional seventh-round pick. All three were waiver eligible. Marincin didn’t exactly show much in preseason, but it could be a function of the penalty killing role he can serve in, as Babcock does not know for sure whether someone like Igor Ozhiganov can contribute capably shorthanded and he may not want to lean on a Jake Gardiner or Morgan Rielly too heavily there in addition to the heavy usage Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev see on the PK. The 11 forwards/7 defensemen possibility could be considered down the road depending on how things shake out with the ice time distribution up front and the special teams situation on defense.

Holl, meanwhile, is the fourth right-handed option on the roster as the evaluation process continues into the regular season for that final bottom-pairing spot. While it looks like Ozhiganov has the inside edge for the spot for Wednesday night, recall that Andreas Borgman won a job out of camp last season and never returned to the big club once he was sent down, so nothing is etched in stone as of yet.

Up front, centerman Frederik Gauthier has stuck around for now — he’s also waiver eligible — as an insurance depth option should presumptive opening-night fourth-line center Par Lindholm not be able to get the job done in the regular season.

If William Nylander comes to terms with the club before opening night, one of Justin Holl, Frederik Gauthier or Martin Marincin could be waived to make space on the 23-man roster. Keeping all three on the big-club roster for now has its logic; teams will have put their rosters together by tomorrow at 5 p.m. EST and would be less liable to add another body at that stage. Igor Ozhiganov and Par Lindholm could also be sent down to accommodate Nylander without the use of waivers.

Connor Carrick traded to Dallas

After initially being announced by the Leafs as waiver bound, a last-minute deal was arranged that fetched the Leafs an asset in return for Connor Carrick: A 2019 seventh-round pick that could become a sixth depending on the number of 2018-19 NHL games Carrick appears in (50 or more).

This also ensures the entirety of Carrick’s $1.3 million is off the cap books. Had he passed through waivers and joined the Marlies, the Leafs would’ve carried nearly $300,000 of his cap hit going forward.

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Opening Night Lineup

Forwards

#12 Patrick Marleau – #34 Auston Matthews – #63 Tyler Ennis
#11 Zach Hyman – #91 John Tavares – #16 Mitch Marner
#32 Josh Leivo – #43 Nazem Kadri – #28 Connor Brown
#18 Andreas Johnsson – #26 Par Lindholm – #24 Kasperi Kapanen

Extra: #33 Frederik Gauthier
RFA: William Nylander

Defensemen

#44 Morgan Rielly – #2 Ron Hainsey
#51 Jake Gardiner – #22 Nikita Zaitsev
#23 Travis Dermott – #92 Igor Ozhighanov

Extras: #52 Martin Marincin, #54 Justin Holl

Goaltenders

#31 Frederik Andersen
#40 Garret Sparks

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