Leafs Reach Crossroads With Young Skilled Defenseman and They May Now Lose Him on Waivers

With the roster crunch continuing league-wide, as all NHL teams need to submit their official rosters by Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had a relatively busy Friday afternoon with the recent waiver placements of David Kampf, as well as defenseman William Villeneuve.

Kampf's waiver placement is certainly the headline of the day, especially after Scott Laughton went down with a lower body injury. However, potentially losing Villeneuve could be a decision they soon regret, considering their depth at the position beyond the NHL regulars.

Villeneuve was drafted in the 4th round of the 2020 NHL draft and has been a mainstay with the Toronto Marlies over the last 3 seasons. The 23-year-old from Sherbrooke, Quebec, notched a career-high 40 points last year in just 55 games after back to back seasons of 25 points in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The benefit of waivers at this juncture of the season is that every one else is following suit, so there's a higher likelihood that they'll clear and be reassigned to the minors. There's always the chance of another team lurking, as there were some claims made earlier today from yesterday's batch, however majority of the players tend to clear.

Nevertheless, considering the importance of the position and how young Villeneuve is, the Leafs need to hope their gamble paid off. Not only does he have great hands but he's mobile, has a right-hand shot, and stands in at 6'2 and 185 pounds; all the makings of what general managers tend to look for in a young defenseman.

Cracking the NHL roster is going to be tough for players like Villeneuve, with how many seasoned veterans the Leafs have, but it would still be a big loss if he were to get claimed.

Should that be the case, that would then leave a massive void for the Marlies, who would look to get by with the likes of Phil Myers, Cade Webber, Noah Chadwick, and John Prokop among others.