Ivan Miroshnichenko is buried on a stacked Washington depth chart, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have real reason to be watching.
Toronto is unrecognizable heading into 2026-27. New GM John Chayka, new head coach Jim Hiller, Mats Sundin now in the front office, and Daniel Alfredsson behind the bench as an assistant.
Add first overall pick Gavin McKenna up front, Darren Raddysh running the power play, and Sergei Bobrovsky in net, and this roster barely resembles last season's group.
Training camp season also means waiver wire season, and every year a fresh crop of players loses that eligibility, forcing tough roster calls elsewhere.
Toronto already made one such move, sending Dennis Hildeby to the Tampa Bay Lightning largely because of that exact squeeze.
More players around the league are about to hit the same wall, and a few of them fit exactly what this Leafs roster still needs.
Miroshnichenko was Washington's 20th overall pick back in 2022, a 6-foot-2 right shot with a physical edge that once drew loose comparisons to a young Ovechkin.
Why waiver eligibility makes this trio realistic targets
He's managed just 13 points across 52 NHL games over three seasons, and Washington's forward group has left him almost no room to break through.
Alex Ovechkin still led that group with 64 points, but eight different Capitals forwards cracked 40 points last season.
Adding Alex Tuch and prospect Ilya Protas, joining older brother Aliaksei, only tightens that logjam further for a player like Miroshnichenko.
Toronto could use one more forward with top six upside, and a cheap right shot shooter buried on a deep roster is exactly the kind of buy low bet worth making.
Ville Koivunen presents a different situation entirely. He's a restricted free agent in Pittsburgh without a contract, tendered but unresolved.
Originally a Carolina second round pick, he arrived in Pittsburgh through the trade that sent Jake Guentzel the other way.
Koivunen managed just 2 goals and 7 points in 39 NHL games last season, but he was dominant in the minors with 41 points in 34 games.
His ability to play both wing and center gives him real value as an injury replacement option, exactly the kind of flexibility Toronto might need mid-season.
Scott Morrow is in the same unsigned boat with the New York Rangers, a 23-year-old right shot defenseman still searching for a real NHL role.
He managed 6 assists in 29 NHL games last season, then produced 19 points in 34 games with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack.
Toronto added Raddysh and got Chris Tanev back, but Tanev's durability has always been a concern, and losing Raddysh would cost this blue line its best puck mover.
Morrow projects as more than a seventh defenseman if given a real chance, and that gap between his usage in Manhattan and his actual game makes him worth tracking.
None of these three are guaranteed to move. But all three sit in that exact spot where a crowded depth chart turns into somebody else's opportunity.
Source: 3 interesting waiver candidates Maple Leafs should show interest in this season
Should the Leafs make a move for one of these buried young players?
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