Where could Max Pacioretty slot into Leafs lineup?

Toronto Maple Leafs have signed defenseman Yanni hawen paaw to a one-year deal it was initially reported back on July the 1st that hawen paaw had signed a two-year deal the 32-year-old recorded two goals 12 points in 64 games of the Dallas Stars last season uh Leafs are busy they also signed Max patches Patcher ready to a PTO patch Ready's agent Allan Walsh yes patches is a noted Allen Walsh client Allan Walsh adding on X the 35 y- old pater would sign a contract with Toronto before the start of the season the veteran forward returned to NHL action last season after tearing his right Achilles for the second time last January that leads us to the first of two discussions with our hockey Insider Chris Johnston uh Chris great to see you hope you had a terrific summer Brad tree living just continuing to add veteran depth what kind of role uh would you expect Max Patch to have with this team this season well I think the key thing for petti is there's going to be a lot of opportunity for him in Toronto and and so you know what kind of role that ends up being I think will be very dependent on you know how he performs in training camp uh the early parts of the Year assuming everything works out as Alan Walsh noted there and he does sign a contract but you know the Leafs after Matthew NIS don't have a lot of players that have spent time on left wing in the top six of an NHL team of course Pat's done a ton of that during his career but at this stage of his career you know how much Duty he can handle you know he is coming off to significant ailles injuries over the last couple seasons is is that truly behind him you know I think that that some of these things will get sorted out as Patcher ready gets his feet under him in Toronto but you know part of the Allure here is a team in Toronto that has high expectations and clearly has an opening for someone of his talents potentially even to play in their top six at least some of the time which I think was pretty appealing for him well Chris you you alluded to it this is a team with high expectations and sometimes when a team has high expectations the younger players don't get the opportunities they might otherwise get uh I'm thinking of a player like East and Cowen if patches were to officially sign with this team what would it mean for East and Cowen going forward well the numbers game has gotten more difficult for Easton count I mean you have the petti contract or or you know impending contract you have Nick Robertson you know signing earlier in the week and so you know there is more bodies in play there more players obviously with experience ahead of Cen but you know one thing I'd point out is last year at training camp the Lea set of player in Fraser mitton that had a strong Camp was in the same situation as C at that time and that he either had to play in the NHL or be sent back to his junior team and at the end of training camp the Leafs traded away Sam laery to the Vancouver conuts in order to create a roster spot to free up the C money they would need to start the Earth mton he didn't last long in Toronto but I think that does show this is an organization willing to do that and so East c will have a lot of eyes on him you know starting now with the rookie tournament heading into this week and then obviously when main Camp opens next week and I think if he plays well enough Poli will do what needs to be done from a cap perspective and a roster perspective in order to have him on the team and Chris you know this is just going to be a standard question I'll be asking you throughout the year until something happens with this player but we're about a week away from players officially reporting any update on Mitchell marner's status well the update kind of remains where it's been you know Mitch Marner is under contract this year uh he's he's going to come to Camp with the Leafs and and I think everyone at this point in time is comfortable just to let this breathe a little bit let him get into the season let him adjust to a new coach and Craig brub we'll see how you know Mitch marner's used in the lineup I think that question of course will go for a lot of the players that have been around and and you know maybe as the year goes along those talks pick up in terms of the possibility of an extension for Marner but you know there's still a long way between now and July 1st 2025 when he can become an unrestricted free agent I think the Leafs given where they're at obviously trying to have a lot more playoff success than they've managed in the last number of years you know Mitch marner's coming off a lot of great Seasons frankly and will be in a good spot to make uh a lot of money on his next contract but it's going to take some time I think before we learn if that's in Toronto or perhaps somewhere else next summer uh speaking of somewhere else we've got other NHL news from around the league to talk about and uh CJ's going to kindly stick around for us and we're going to talk about some of that other NHL news a little later on this edition of Sports Center