The waiver wire got crowded again on Sunday, and a familiar Maple Leafs theme kept showing up. As NHL teams race to cut their rosters down before Monday’s 5 PM deadline, five more former Toronto players landed on waivers: Calle Rosen, Ilya Samsonov, Sam Lafferty, Henry Thrun and Sammy Blais.
That adds another layer to a busy stretch of roster trimming across the league. The Maple Leafs themselves put Steven Lorentz and Philippe Myers on waivers, while other names such as Brandon Tanev and Miles Wood were also assigned as clubs worked to get down to finalized rosters for the 2026-27 season.
Among the ex-Leafs now on the wire, Rosen had 12 games with Toronto over three seasons. Samsonov, though, was the biggest name of the group and served as the team’s dependable starter from 2022-2024.
Lafferty posted six points in 19 games for the Maple Leafs in 2022-23, while Thrun arrived in the Leafs’ trade with San Jose involving Ryan Reaves. Blais, meanwhile, was a waiver claim for Toronto last season.
As for what comes next, Samsonov stands out as the player with the clearest NHL case because of his resume and reliability. For Blais and Thrun, the path looks tougher. The rest of the group projects more as AHL depth and injury insurance than players who are likely to shift much for an NHL club.
Toronto, for its part, has no room for any of them after signing Nick Blenkenburg, leaving the team without the roster or cap space to make a move. With all the turnover, that reality may be working in the Leafs’ favor.
Teams that want to claim any of the players have 24 hours to do so before they’re assigned to their AHL clubs.
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