By Alex Hobson
June 26th 2015 was a speacial and important day for the Leafs and their fans. That day, the 2015 NHL Entry Draft would take place. What would anyone say when asked what the most exciting aspect of the draft was? The actual drafting, obviously, but another aspect that contributes to the exciting atmosphere are the trades. And on draft day, the only trade the Leafs made that involved an actual player was one that took place on day two with the Edmonton Oilers. The Leafs sent Brad Ross along with the 4th round pick obtained in the Daniel Winnik trade to the Oilers in exchange for young defenseman Martin Marincin. This trade may simply seem like an effort to score a young player to some Leafs fans, but there is far more significance to this deal than people may think. What makes the trade significant, you may ask? Let's take a look.
Marincin was selected in the 2nd round of the 2010 NHL Draft, and has been making some decent strides as a defenseman with the Leafs virtually giving up next to nothing to acquire him. Ross is currently playing in Germany after being suspended for 20 games for using performance enhancing substances. The pick that the Leafs gave up ended up getting traded to the Ottawa Senators in a trade for Eric Gryba, so essentially the Leafs gave up nothing to obtain him. Marincin is a solid two way defenseman and is still young at age 24. He recorded only 5 points in 41 games, but he's more known for his defensive side of the game. If he's paired with a defenseman along the lines of Dion Phaneuf or Roman Polak, Marincin could thrive.
STATUS: SAFE
Again, it's difficult to say that Marincin is untouchable because he's a new member of the team and has done nothing so far to certify that he'll remain with the team for a while, but he's also young and has a very cheap cap hit, so there doesn't appear to be any reason that Leafs management would trade him.
2015-16 ROLE: BOTTOM FOUR DEFENSEMAN
This is kind of an odd name for where Marincin will play, but it seems most likely. He will not appear on the top pairing, but could feature on the middle pairing or bottom pairing, depending who he plays with.
What do you think of Marincin, Leafs fans? Was he a good acquisition? Comment your opinions below.
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