The Maple Leafs are reportedly using the eight-skater protection scheme

Jared McCann, the newest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, will reportedly be exposed to the Seattle Kraken in the upcoming Expansion Draft.

As reported by Frank Seravalli, Toronto is using the eight-skater protection scheme in order to protect four defencemen from being selected by Seattle.

We can safely assume that @Auston Matthews, @John Tavares, @Mitch Marner, and @William Nylander are the four forwards and that @T.J. Brodie, @Jake Muzzin, and @Morgan Rielly are three of the four defencemen. What we don’t yet know is whether @Justin Holl or @Travis Dermott is the eighth player the Leafs are going to protect.

UPDATE: According to Kevin McGran, Dermott will be exposed while Holl is protected.

Beyond either Holl or Dermott, the Leafs will expose a pair of quality, middle-six forwards to Seattle in @Alexander Kerfoot and the newly-acquired @Jared McCann. Toronto traded Filip Hallander and a seventh-round pick to the Pittsburgh just ahead of Saturday’s roster freeze as the Penguins felt they didn’t have room to fit him into their protected list.

Kerfoot has an underwhelming season in 2021, scoring eight goals and 23 points over 56 games, but was one of the few Leafs who showed up in the playoffs, as he scored six points in seven games. McCann, on the other hand, scored 14 goals and 32 points with the Penguins last season.

It’s a little surprising to see McCann immediately exposed by the Leafs. It seems the team has placed a lot of value on protecting their defenders and acquiring McCann works as a contingency plan if Kerfoot is selected. Now, no matter what Seattle chooses to do, Toronto will still have a middle-six centre in either Kerfoot or McCann.