Last night, the Detroit Red Wings handed the Toronto Maple Leafs a pre-season finale loss, taking the game 4-3 on home ice and sending the Leafs home with their tails tucked between their legs.
Following the loss, which concluded the pre-season for both teams, the Leafs were in dire need of some moves to clear some cap space, which would allow them to finalize their roster and become cap compliant. Many assumed that those moves would be waiver transactions, but as it turns out, their six waiver moves were also accompanied by a trade, sending Sam Lafferty to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2024 5th round pick.
The one silver-lining here is that Lafferty at least knows where he's going, avoiding waivers, and won't have to wait until 2pm tomorrow to find out who will claim him. Lafferty was a cap casualty as his $1.15M salary being moved has allowed the Leafs to create a little more flexibility as they look to finalize their roster.
The moves will allow the Leafs to become cap compliant on Monday, and will also allow them to keep rookie sensation Fraser Minten with the team, if they so choose. The other option is to award a roster spot to one of Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, or Bobby McMann a spot. There's also a big decision ahead for the Leafs regarding Noah Gregor, who was with the team on a PTO. Did he do enough to earn a contract, or will he be released from his PTO? I'd imagine that he's made the team, but we likely won't know for sure until tomorrow.
