Maple Leafs winger Josh Leivo is in his second straight season of seeing limited playing time and with it looking less and less likely that this will change in the weeks to come with Kasperi Kapanen coming up from the minors and playing well, he has requested a trade if he isn’t going to get more ice time, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports (video link).
Leivo is waiver eligible which is what has left him in limbo, similar to what had been happening last season with now-Penguins blueliner Frank Corrado. Toronto doesn’t want to risk losing him for nothing as he would almost assuredly be picked up if they were to place him on the wire.
Leivo’s agent Ian Pulver spoke to Jonas Siegal of The Athletic (subscription required), indicating that there is no bad blood between the two sides.
Josh is a player who would stand in front of a train for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Josh was drafted by the Leafs and he wants to be a long-time Leaf. He would love to be in the lineup Monday night, and every night thereafter. Having said that, he hasn’t been in the lineup for a long time, and hasn’t played much in the past two seasons. He has reached a point in his career where he simply needs to play regularly.
While it looked like Leivo would start to get more playing time following a one-year, $925K extension he signed back in November to avoid potentially hitting Group VI unrestricted free agency, that hasn’t been the case. The 24-year-old has played in just 12 games this season, notching a goal and two assists while averaging just 10:54 per night in playing time.
Overall, Leivo has had a bit of success when he has had the opportunity to play. Although he has played in just 53 career NHL games over parts of five seasons, he has managed a respectable 10 goals and 11 assists in limited playing time (just 10:57 per game on average). That should attract some interest around the league, especially since his cap hit of $613K falls below the league minimum salary.
While Toronto is certainly looking to add before the trade deadline, this case may be one where it makes sense for them to take a future asset in return. The Leafs are currently at the maximum of 50 contracts so picking up a draft pick or unsigned prospect here would free up an opening for them to add a veteran before the end of the month.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hard to really feel for him when he signed that extension.
He signed the extension believing that he would be getting more playing time and knowing that he might not make to unrestricted free agency. He has showed he can play in the NHL and deserves to be given a chance
I don’t recall anything being said about him being told he would get more playing time. That may be an assumption made by many. Unless you can support that somehow? Other than by using conjecture. It could just have well been “By signing this deal it will make it easier to trade you” instead of promising ice time.
If there intention was to trade him, he wouldn’t still be with them
At the time it had looked like he would be receiving more playing. Now the Kapanen has played the way he has, Leivo has become expendable. You have to feel bad for a guy who has earned more playing time, but nothing he does gets him in the lineup
If he was good enough to play, he’d play. He should have been played over Martin all year long, that’s the mistake that’s been made here.
It takes 2 teams to make a trade. If they wanted to give him away they’d place him on waivers.
Yep, for sure. They routinely play guys like Martin, Komarov and Moore over him. I don’t understand why coaches don’t put the best lineup out there every night. Same happens in Ottawa nightly. Good players like Claesson, Chlapik and White get sat for guys who have no business being in the NHL like Oduya and Dumont. It’s mind boggling how some guys pick their roster.
Yes but because he is a good player, Toronto does not want to trade him for nothing. On the other hand, no team is going to give up anything significant for a guy who isn’t playing. This is probably why he hasn’t already been dealt and why he may not have his request met
Usually with the bottom of their roster, teams want more defensive minded guys or specialists. Martin, Komarov, and Moore are guys who are going to contribute more on the defensive end and make (usually) ideal guys for the PK where you might have one or two guys from your top lines who are pretty bad defensively. If they’re consistent healthy scratches, the teams are probably playing them wrong but it makes more sense to keep younger guys in the AHL to get good playing time as opposed to bottom of the roster minutes at the NHL level.
Yeah. Leivo is in a kind of in between position. He’s not quite defensive enough for a bottom 6 role and not quite offensive enough for a top 6 Riley in Toronto. A rebuilding team with a need for a forward should take a chance on him and hope he turns into a solid NHL regular
This may have been said regarding Corrado or Holland or Marchenko, but it applies to Leivo as well. As much as he passes the eye test and how he “looks” good based on numbers, there may be other reasons he hasn’t played that we aren’t aware of.
Babcock: “We’ve had players here in the past that were disgruntled; when they went somewhere else they found out they weren’t (NHLers).”
Leivo Sosh and a 2nd for Max Domi
see actually wonder if that’s a route they go. Not so much the domi tie in but trying to package leivo and soshnikov for 1 player who they view as a potential 3rd line guy with a 2019 season on his contract.
Domi likely would be a bad fit for this team because if he ever figures it out, they’ll have to pay him. The team is already in a slight bind with having to figure out how they would pay Matthews, Nylander, and Marner so adding Domi would be another potential young guy that they would have to find cap space for.