Leafs are terminating the contract of a recent draft pick
The Toronto Maple Leafs are calling it quits with Axel Rindell.
Rindell, a 2020 sixth draft pick of the team, was placed on unconditional waivers today with purpose of contract termination, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
TOR has Axel Rindell on unconditional waivers for purposes of contract termination
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 15, 2022
No reason for the termination has yet to come out, though it’s possible it’s just to open a roster spot as Toronto was previously at 50 standard player contracts.
With the team now at 49 contracts, it allows them a little extra roster flexibility in case they’re adding a large asset via a trade.
Toronto has been one of the NHL’s hottest teams this season, sporting a 19-5-6 record that sees them third in the league. Cutting a player like Rindell gives them the opportunity to pick up an extra depth player or prospect in a trade, especially if they’re in the trade market over the next coming months.
A 6-foot, 192-pound defender taken out of Finland’s Jukurit Mikkeli system, Rindell was taken by the Leafs 177th overall in 2020, the first draft to ever be done completely virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After three seasons with Jukurit Mikkeli, Rindell spent the 2021-22 season in the top Finnish division playing for Karpat, alongside another Leafs prospect in defenceman Topi Niemela. But Rindell only lasted 11 games in North America this year.
In six games this year with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, Rindell has yet to register a point.
Meanwhile, he played six games with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, where he picked up two goals and two assists.
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