Which Toronto Marlies will become Maple Leafs?
Defense
On top of Johnsson and Kapanen, there is one more more player that is all but a sure-thing for the Maple Leafs and that’s Travis Dermott.
Dermott began the season with the Marlies before earning two call-ups to the Leafs. In the second recall, he forced the Leafs to keep him up with the team. He had 13 points in 37 games with the Leafs. He might have missed Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals with an injury but he was another huge part of the run towards it.
Travis Dermott made the call not to dress for Game 7 because of a shoulder injury. He says it was the toughest decision of his life — worse than choosing the OHL over NCAA, which he agonized over for months.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 15, 2018
One defenseman who could win a spot on the bottom pairing is Justin Holl. A lot of fans will remember his two-game stint with the Leafs in which he scored a goal in each game. Holl is another player that could benefit from the shift in the Leafs’ management. For a player that was drafted all the way back in 2010, he could be a very good depth defenseman for the Leafs.
With all that said, there is one defenseman that could probably use one more year with the Marlies. Timothy Liljegren is full of potential and will be a big part of the Leafs in the future. However, that future won’t be next season.
Could he make the decision hard on the Leafs in training camp? For sure, but it will be best for the young Swede to take another year and come back even better the next season.