Today, the Maple Leafs made their final cuts to their roster. They sent down Keith Aulie, Darryl Boyce, Joey Crabb, Matt Lashoff and Mike Zigomanis. Boyce, Crabb and Lashoff will have to pass through waivers first in order to play with the Marlies.
In the summer I had made mention in one of my Hockey's Future articles (Maple Leafs Top 20) that Aulie wasn't a safe bet because of the added depth to the Maple Leafs line-up and the fact that Komisarek has a NMC which prevents him from being waived unless he gives it the thumbs up:
"With the additions of John-Michael Liles, Cody Franson, and big ticket defenseman Mike Komisarek still in the fold; Aulie will be in tough to win a position with the club out of camp. He's still exempt from waivers, which could play a factor at the start of the season."Some thought I was crazy to suggest it, but now it's come to fruition and it was pretty obvious from the start. There were just too many factors playing against him.
For one, the added depth. Aulie wasn't going to beat out Luke Schenn or Dion Phaneuf for a spot on the team. Komisarek's NMC all but assured he would be on the 23 man roster, unless some team wanted him in trade - and at this point, not likely. So there's three spots wrapped up.
Then, the Maple Leafs added John-Michael Liles to be their 'puck-mover' and Cody Franson who was expected to anchor the secondary power-play unit. The fact the Maple Leafs had so little scoring from their defense last year gives these players the edge in my view. They need to improve special teams, and Liles/Franson can do that. Aulie could potentially improve the PK, but I think the thought process might have been that adding Lombardi, Dupuis and a full season of Reimer will work itself out - or at least make the PK respectable.
Jake Gardiner's lights out performance didn't help Aulie either. The original plan had seemed that they were going to let Gardiner grow on the farm while Liles sort of played placeholder for the season. They really couldn't justfiy cutting Gardiner and keeping Aulie based on how both players performed. Gardiner just wasn't the best Maple Leaf defender, some games he was the best defender on the ice. Both players being waiver exempt made Aulie the obvious target for demotion without threat.
So, with all these factors playing against him, Aulie was the odd man out...but I wouldn't count him out for long. You get the feeling the Maple Leafs are going to shake up their defense one way or another. Not only do they have 7 NHL defenders on the roster (arguably), but the depth on the farm is there to play a variety of bottom-four defensive roles. Who they'll acquire? I don't know...I'll save that for another blog.
The best thing would be to move Komisarek to someone...anyone! But like I've stated in my previous blog here it's not so simple. For now, Aulie will have to bide his time on the Marlies and hopes another players hiccup will open the door for another shot at cementing himself in the top-six.
As for the other players, the only one I'm mildly surprised with is Darryl Boyce just because I got the vibe that Ron Wilson really liked him. I did feel Philippe Dupuis had outplayed him though for that 4th line spot. Dupuis impressed me in a 4th line role from day one. I would have liked to keep both, but I knew when Rosehill signed that one-year deal in the summer he was likely to stick around. Seems rather silly to keep both Colton Orr and Jay Rosehill in the lineup, but I imagine they want Rosehill around for insurance purposes in-case Orr gets dropped again. I actually think Rosehill can be useful in a 12/13th forward role.
Maybe it's a stretch with the names on the waiver wire, but I wouldn't be shocked if some team saw value in Boyce. I think if someone like Tim Brent could find a contract, Boyce may prove useful to some team - similar to Nick Johnson being picked up by Minnesota off the wire last week. But at the same time, everyone is trying to cut rosters down so maybe he sneaks through.
My next blog will focus on the Marlies depth now that the cuts have been made.
