Maple Leafs cuts: Denis Malgin beats out Adam Gaudette and the end for Wayne Simmonds

On the first day of free agency this past July, the Maple Leafs signed three forwards: Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Adam Gaudette and Denis Malgin.

Aube-Kubel was a lock, signed for one year at $1 million and coming off a Stanley Cup win with the Avalanche.

The other two were one-year bets for the NHL minimum of $750K. Gaudette felt like the likelier of the two to emerge. Unlike Malgin, he played in the NHL last season and the one before that, and had an interesting skill set that hinted at bargain potential.

Malgin, on the other hand, was known mostly in Toronto for his association with Mason Marchment, whom the Leafs gave up to acquire Malgin when they were in a pinch for NHL forwards in 2020.

Malgin had gone without any points in eight games in his first stint with the Leafs. Why was GM Kyle Dubas willing to run it back?

Malgin showed why this preseason, coming out of relative nowhere (Switzerland!) to snatch a spot on the Leafs opening night roster. The 25-year-old not only beat out Gaudette, but also beloved veterans Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford, all of whom were placed on waivers on Sunday afternoon.

Victor Mete, the last healthy, experienced depth defenceman on the roster (and even he’s a little banged up at moment), joined them there as expected.

Meanwhile, Zach Aston-Reese finally got his contract — a one-year deal worth $840,630 on the cap — and Nick Robertson appears to have made the Leafs out of camp for the first time.

Robertson and Malgin each piled up eight points in the preseason, leading the Leafs and ranking among the NHL leaders.

There was no way the Leafs could deny Malgin a spot. Not for Simmonds or Clifford, both aging types who were played out of the lineup in last year’s playoffs. Not for Gaudette, whose chances of cracking the Leafs stalled after a shoulder injury in his very first preseason game.

Malgin put himself over the top with his fourth goal of the fall in the Leafs’ final exhibition game on Saturday.

Said coach Sheldon Keefe afterward: “If you’re him coming in, if you made a checklist of the things you want to get accomplished — I think he did a pretty good job of accomplishing them.”

Malgin should line up next to William Nylander when the Leafs kick off their season in Montreal on Wednesday night.

Robertson may not join them right away. It’s possible the Leafs will have to play a forward short against the Canadiens and then recall Robertson on an emergency basis after that. That is, of course, presuming that John Tavares won’t be available for the opener (oblique).

Alex Kerfoot and Nick Robertson. (Dan Hamilton / USA Today)

The Leafs can get cap compliant by sending Robertson back to the Marlies, on paper, for Game 1, placing Liljegren on long-term injured reserve, and then recalling him for the home opener against Washington on Thursday. Another option: Waive Malgin on Monday and keep Robertson around for the season opener.

Cap maestro and assistant GM Brandon Pridham obviously has a solution in mind for the cap squeeze.

Inevitably, there’s bound to be competition between Robertson and Malgin to stick around. Once Tavares returns, only one spot will be free on the second line — assuming, of course, that no other injuries pop up in the meantime. (And you have to think they will.)

Robertson’s preseason was just as impressive as Malgin’s. He took hold of a job by flashing the kind of offence — shooting and playmaking — the Leafs hadn’t seen from him in prior stints, along with the expected hustle.

The question for both him and Malgin is whether they can continue to keep stacking up the points in the regular season, when the intensity and competition kick up a few notches. Nylander-led lines will get the second-toughest matchup every night.

Malgin’s last recorded point in an NHL regular-season game: Feb. 17, 2020 — for the Panthers. Robertson’s only career NHL point (outside of the postseason) — a goal — came on Mar. 5 of last season.

Both will claim spots on the Leafs’ revamped No. 2 power-play unit.

Playing on a PTO in camp, Aston-Reese was a no-brainer to eventually sign a contract with the Leafs. He’ll be locked at the hip of David Kampf to start the season on what should quickly become the most useful fourth line the Leafs have had in, well, forever.

“I think that has an opportunity to be a line that can be really responsible defensively,” Keefe said. “We all know how we used Kampf last season and I think with Aube-Kubel and Aston-Reese and their skill sets, there’s great opportunity for them to be deployed in a similar manner.”

In other words, get ready for defensive zone starts galore.

To start things off elsewhere, Alex Kerfoot will centre a line with Calle Jarnkrok and Pierre Engvall. That trio has the potential to be used any way Keefe really would like. Stick them in the defensive zone to help Kampf’s group out with janitorial work, say, and/or take the odd shift against an opposing top line. Whether that group can deliver modest offence is the question.

Tavares’ likely early absence will put Nylander at centre. It will be most interesting to see how he handles that assignment, even as Keefe does all he can to ensure those groups play offence as much as possible.

Eventually, Tavares will return and push Nylander back over to the wing.

What’s next for Simmonds is uncertain.

He worked hard to quicken his pace in the offseason, but it was going to be hard, if not impossible, for him to speed up enough at age 34 to provide value for the Leafs again this season — especially at $900K on the cap.

An uncomfortable end like this was always a possibility when the Leafs signed him to a two-year extension in 2021. The cap hit could be fully buried, but that would necessitate waiving a well-liked and respected dressing room leader.

It’s possible some team craving that kind of leadership will claim Simmonds. Otherwise, he’ll have to decide if he’s willing to play in the AHL for the first time. Simmonds made the jump to the NHL, with the L.A. Kings, straight from junior.

The Leafs will hope that Gaudette can sneak through waivers. He’s coming off a season in which he played spared minutes for two of the worst teams in the league, so it’s certainly possible he goes unclaimed. That would allow the Leafs to have another forward internally in the event that Malgin and/or Robertson can’t stick, or that injuries strike.

Gaudette is a reclamation project, with size (6-foot-1, nearly 200 pounds), a good motor, and offensive potential.

Another guy the Leafs need to get through waivers is Mete.

With Carl Dahlstrom done for six months after shoulder surgery and Jordie Benn sidelined a few weeks with a groin injury, the Leafs are short on experienced depth on the back end. Lose Mete and the next man would be Filip Kral, who’s never played an NHL game.

Liljegren should return sometime in November, at which point, more cap maneuvering could be required.

For now, it’s a moment for Malgin and Robertson (tentatively), who appear to have forced their way onto the Leafs roster.

(Top photo of Denis Malgin: Dan Hamilton / USA Today)