Update:

Denis Malgin, who was loaned to Lausanne in the Swiss league is on waivers today. Like Kalle Kossila, he has to clear waivers to remain on that loan. This seems odd to us, because usually the players loaned by teams at the start of training camp are waivers-exempt prospects.

Malgin was acquired in trade from the Florida Panthers and did not play in the Maple Leafs playoffs. He has a career of 192 NHL games played with only 28 in the AHL, but the bloated Toronto roster had no space for him. The Maple Leafs decided not to recall him, and other European loans, just for training camp.

These practice groups tell how hard the Leafs roster is for marginal players. No one in Group 2 is expected to make the team, although some will be on the Taxi Squad. Group 1 is 22 players, so even one of those will be cut to the squad on January 12.  To make the Leafs, a player like Malgin would need to vault over two of these people, when Pierre Engvall hasn’t.

Malgin, an RFA, was signed by the Leafs on October 2, before they signed a host of free agents, and he will expire as an RFA still. He turns 24 in two weeks, so he isn’t a youngster, but he’s hardly beyond hope of making the NHL next season. Malgin does not meet the exposure requirements for the Expansion Draft, so his re-signing this October was not some sort of clever scheme. He seems to have just been supplanted by all the additions that came after.

Every waiver discussion involves the question of will he clear? Yes, almost certainly. To want Malgin, a team would need to claim him, have SPC room, have room on their NHL roster, want him to come back from Switzerland now, wait out quarantine, and then join their NHL club. They could just trade a pick for any one of a dozen similar players instead. So, no there won’t be claiming drama.