The waiver wire once again found itself loaded up with former Maple Leafs players as NHL teams try to whittle down their lineup before Monday's deadline.
Sunday is a very important day for NHL teams as they look to trim down their roster given that Monday at 5 PM is when the rosters need to be sent in and finalized ahead of the 2026-27 season.
That means there have been a flurry of waiver assignments over the past few days, with the Maple Leafs placing Steven Lorentz and Philippe Myers on waivers, meanwhile names like Brandon Tanev and Miles Wood have also been assigned.
Five former Maple Leafs hit the waiver wire
But there's also a trend following as well, as several former Maple Leafs have found themselves on the wire, with five more added on Sunday: Calle Rosen, Ilya Samsonov, Sam Lafferty, Henry Thrun and Sammy Blais.
Rosen appeared in 12 games for the Maple Leafs over the course of three seasons, meanwhile Samsonov was a key part of Toronto's success from 2022-2024 as he was their dependable starter.
Lafferty had six points in 19 games for the Maple Leafs in 2022-23, and Thrun came over in the Maple Leafs' trade with San Jose involving Ryan Reaves and Blais was ironically a waiver claim for Toronto last season.
Do any of these former Maple Leafs have an NHL future?
There is some potential for players like Samsonov to find work considering their resume and reliability, but for players like Blais and Thrun it might be harder to work their way up.
The majority of these players are going to be AHL depth and players who are solid stand-ins for injury issues but no one really sticks out as someone who is able to move the needle for any particular team.
The Maple Leafs certainly have no room for any of them because after the signing of Nick Blenkenburg they really have no roster or cap space, but with how much change there's been it's probably for the best.
Teams who are interested in claiming any of the waiver assignments have 24 hours to do so, at which point those players will be assigned to their respective AHL teams.
Should the Maple Leafs make a claim off waivers for any of their former players?
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