Though it may not come as much of a surprise, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be open to trading Martin Marincin. After starting the year on the Maple Leafs’ third pairing, Marincin was recently replaced by Kevin Gravel in the lineup and now Travis Dermott has returned from injury to take the spot full-time. That leaves Marincin sitting in the press box every night and even that may be short lived.
The Maple Leafs will likely have to send three players to the minor leagues when Zach Hyman returns from long-term injured reserve in the next few weeks, and Marincin is expected to be one of them. The 27-year old defenseman would need to clear waivers in order to report to the AHL however, at which point any team in the league would be able to claim him.
Like Nic Petan, who is also available according to Friedman, Marincin hasn’t been able to establish himself as a favorite of head coach Mike Babcock and now finds himself without a real future in Toronto. The Marlies of the AHL already have a loaded group of defensemen, meaning if GM Kyle Dubas and the Toronto front office can find any value on the trade market it would obviously be worth it.
Another way this may play out however is for Marincin to hit waivers when Hyman returns, only to clear and then be traded. He cleared waivers as recently as this February, and it would give any acquiring team much more flexibility. They could then send Marincin to their own minor league affiliate to keep as depth.
In any case, whether he is available or not there’s little chance he’ll provide a big return for the Maple Leafs. In 207 career NHL games he’s shown little ability to perform at a high level, providing most of his value on the penalty kill. He has 30 points in those games, but none this season.
He doesn’t have much value on the trade market, so I would assume they would be more than open.
Fringe player. Leafs would be lucky to get anything for Marincin.
Fascinating news. Not every day you hear about a team that is willing to trade an organizational depth player that the team has little interest in playing unless all other options are extinguished.
You don’t hear about it because nobody else would think it worth mentioning. In other news, team has hopes of winning a championship in the near future.
To the Devils?
We’d have to give away a draft pick just to get rid of them like we did with Marleau. Wouldn’t even get a 7th rounder for Marincin.