At one point in time, Conor Timmins seemed a shoo-in to become an NHL-regular defenceman. Drafted just outside the first round of the 2017 Entry Draft, 32nd overall by the Colorado Avalanche, Timmins showed his offensive playmaking skills in his last two years of junior hockey playing for the Soo Greyhounds. He scored one point shy of a point a game pace in those two seasons, with 102 points in 103 games.
Six Years Later, Timmins Hasn’t Found Steady Work
Here we are six years later and Timmins is still not an NHL regular. What happened?
Injuries have played a big role in slowing down Timmins’ development. Timmins suffered a concussion at the end of the season in his last year in juniors. It caused him to miss the entire 2018-19 season. After making the Avalanche roster in January of 2021 and playing 31 regular season games and 10 playoff games for the Avalanche, Timmins suffered a season-ending knee injury just six games into the 2021-22 season.
After being traded to the Arizona Coyotes as part of a deal that saw goaltender Darcy Kuemper go the other way, Timmins suffered another injury. This time, the injury was labeled as an upper-body injury just two games into the 2022-23 season.
When the Maple Leafs Needed Depth, They Found Timmins
On November 23, 2022, the Maple Leafs were in desperate need of defensive depth. They traded 6-foot-9 minor-league forward Curtis Douglas for Timmins. Timmins actually performed rather well for the Maple Leafs, scoring two goals and 14 points in 25 games (it would have been a six-goal, 46-point pace for 82 games). While he did have some defensive hiccups in his game, he did not look out of place.
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Unfortunately for Timmins, the Maple Leafs did not feel it was a good move to depend on a defenceman with only 78 games of NHL experience in the playoffs. After the Maple Leafs sought out and acquired Jake McCabe, Luke Schenn, and Erik Gustafsson at the trade deadline, Timmins found himself on the outside looking in come the postseason.
But Kyle Dubas had seen enough of Timmins in the games he did play to offer him a new two-year, $1.1 million per-season contract. It appeared that Justin Holl was most likely on his way out at the end of the 2022-23 season and that Timmins was being looked at as his replacement on the right side of the Maple Leafs blue line.
When Kyle Dubas Was Let Go, Things Changed for Timmins
Then, in the offseason, the Maple Leafs let Dubas go. In his place, the organization brought in a new GM, Brad Treliving. One of Treliving’s first moves was to sign the veteran John Klingberg to a one-year deal. That move, and Klingberg’s presence, dropped Timmins one spot down the depth chart.
Then, Treliving signed physical defenceman Simon Benoit in an effort to address a need for more grit on the backend. Depending on Treliving’s plans for Benoit, Timmins could be considered ranked seventh or eighth in the Maple Leafs’ depth chart.
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To make matters more precarious for Timmins, with the roster as it presently sits, the only way the Maple Leafs could ice a team that comes under the salary cap is to dress eleven forwards and seven defensemen. Removing the seventh defenceman would allow the Maple Leafs to ice the more traditional twelve-forward-six-defenceman roster.
By the CBA rules, a team can bury up to $1,150,000 in the minors and get full credit for that amount from the salary cap. The best-case scenario for the Maple Leafs would be to have Timmins clear waivers and be available for a call-up if he is needed. Odds are though that another team would happily claim a 25-year-old defenceman who scored at a 40-point pace last season, and Timmins would be gone.
If an Injury Occurs, Timmins Could Be Important
All of this is all speculation of course, and would only be an issue if there are no injuries in training camp or the preseason. An injury serious enough to place anyone on long-term injury reserve (LTIR) would most likely solve the cap problem at least temporarily.
As for Timmins, all he can do is control what he can control. His only course of action is to come into training camp with the goal of making it difficult for the Maple Leafs to not include him in the opening game roster. Would that be good enough for him to make the team’s roster?
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There are a number of choices the Maple Leafs must make before the Oct. 11 opening game. Timmins is one of them.
[Note: I want to thank long-time Maple Leafs fan Stan Smith for collaborating with me on this post. Stan’s Facebook profile can be found here.]
