The Toronto Maple Leafs have brought Miles Wood up from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, and the move leaves them with a pretty clear roster puzzle to solve.
Toronto announced Friday that the 31-year-old forward has been recalled after being acquired in the blockbuster trade that sent Matthew Knies to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Kirill Marchenko. Wood, who has long been viewed as a bottom-six option with regular 25- to 30-point production, now has a chance to claim a role with the Leafs.
That won’t come easily. General manager John Chyka spent much of the offseason building depth near the bottom of the lineup, adding Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime and Zack MacEwen. Toronto already has a crowded mix of options, so Wood is walking into a competition, not a handout.
His recall may also be connected to health concerns that have not yet been made public. It is still unclear whether a forward is hurt, though defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is expected to miss time after falling awkwardly and landing on his head in Thursday’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
For now, Wood joins MacEwen and Nick Blankenburg as the team’s extra skaters. More clarity should come when the Leafs practice in Vegas later Friday before continuing their road trip Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. If Toronto is indeed dealing with a forward absence, Wood would be the most obvious candidate to slide into bottom-six minutes.
The bigger question is what the Leafs want to do with him if they keep him around. His assignment to the Marlies was a little surprising for an 11-year NHL veteran who has spent years proving he can stick at this level. If Toronto doesn’t see him as part of the plan, moving him to a team looking for depth would make sense, especially with all three salary retention slots still available.
If the Leafs do decide to use him, the fit is straightforward: put him in the bottom six and let him do what he does. That’s where he has made his name, and Toronto could use a player who can handle those minutes at a higher NHL standard than some of the other options on hand, including Bo Groulx, who is 26 and has never played more than 45 games in an NHL season.
Colorado’s interest in Wood back in free agency in 2023 was a sign of how teams view him. The Avalanche used him as a useful piece of their bottom six, and he appeared in 20 playoff games with them. That kind of experience is exactly the sort of thing Toronto could use as it tries to dig out of a rough start.
The Leafs have a few different paths with Wood. What they do next will say plenty about how they plan to respond after Thursday’s loss, when they let a 3-0 lead slip away against Vegas.
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