As you can see, Webber plays for Boston College University, and the Leafs do love to scout the Boston area schools.

He was drafted in the fourth round by the 'Canes in 2019, and is now 23 and finishing his fourth year of NCAA hockey. Obviously Carolina wasn't going to sign him as his rights expire on August 15 this year. The Leafs have until then to offer him a deal. Generally, teams don't make these trades unless they know that's going to happen.

If you remember the trade deadline rules, you'll remember that a player on a team's reserve list can be added to the NHL roster after the deadline. Webber looks like an AHL project however.

Webber is 6'6", 6'7" according to Boston University, and listed variously around 200 lbs. He has no history of points.

He possesses good mechanics and a clean, quick stride that allows him to cover large distances quickly. He’s a great defensive defender because of his skating and reach, too. Pretty much any area in the defensive zone is a part of Webber’s coverage because if he can’t reach it with his stick, he’s able to get there in a stride or two, rendering a play null. Webber can anticipate where a play is going and react accordingly, shutting down a lot of offense in the process.
I don’t see Webber ever being a strong offensive player, and his lack of transitional skill makes me skeptical of his chances at playing NHL games. I haven’t seen a lot of improvements since he came to Boston University, largely due to the fact that he has mostly played in a third pairing role for the Terriers. While his defensive game has been good, he hasn’t carried the puck in transition or been able to make an impact offensively. 

Source published in 2022

So not exactly what you'd expect from a player this big. And a cheap enough acquisition to laepfrog the long prospect development window. He's a graduate student this year, after getting a business degree, so if nothing else, he can hang out with Joe Woll.

trades