Schmaltz, Harpur, Aberg, Gaudet clear waivers, sent to Marlies

All four skaters that were put on waivers yesterday have cleared and been assigned to the Toronto Marlies.

Pontus Aberg and Tyler Gaudet were signed as free agents this summer as the Leafs were looking to bolster their forward depth and try to find some diamonds in the rough of the free market.

Neither impressed too much in the pre-season, but both are very capable depth players on different teams. Aberg has most recently found himself in the Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks organizations, scoring a total of 12 goals and 25 points through a total of 59 NHL games between the two clubs. The 26-year-old winger last spent more than 5 games in the AHL back in the 2016-17 season, where he scored 31 goals and 52 points in 56 games for the Milwaukee Admirals. He might be too good for that league.

Gaudet is more familiar with the AHL and will hopefully be a powerful depth piece for a Marlies team that hopes to continue their deep playoff runs the past couple of seasons.

On the back end, defencemen Ben Harpur and Jordan Schmaltz — both acquired in separate trades — have cleared waivers as well and will be part of a shifting Marlies blue line. Harpur has demonstrated that he’s more capable of punching faces than keeping up to speed in the NHL, while Schmaltz is slightly better at playing hockey, but just.

With the promotion of Rasmus Sandin, the Marlies will still have the young Timothy Liljegren to hopefully develop for the big club. Earlier this week, prospects Mac Hollowell, Joseph Duczak and Teemu Kivilhalme were sent down to the AHL club and will be part of a young, mobile top-four for the 2018 Calder Cup champions.

With less prospects to really represent the future of the Maple Leafs, the Marlies will have a role for developing cheap depth players that will still be incredibly important to the overall success for the top-division team.