Instead of calling up a Nikita Soshnikov, Kasperi Kapanen or Brendan Leipsic from the AHL, the Leafs have decided to claim Smith, who spent some time with the team last season following the trade with the Sharks that sent Roman Polak the other way at the deadline. Based on the practice lines, Connor Brown is going to move up the lineup into Michalek’s place alongside Kadri and Komarov, while Smith will likely plug in on the right wing of the fourth line in Brown’s place.
The thinking appears to be that the Leafs are at their maximum capacity when it comes to rookies in the lineup; dropping Michalek, elevating Brown in the lineup and adding in a Soshnikov or Leipsic (it wouldn’t have made sense to bring Kapanen into a fourth-line role rather than allow him to continue to dominate the AHL) at this point would’ve made the team a little too wet behind the ears.