The Leafs made another round of cuts this afternoon, sending among others, forwards Pettri Kontiola and Sam Carrick to the Toronto Marlies. Troy Bodie was also put on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the Marlies as well.

The moves leave the Maple Leafs with eighteen forwards left in camp. Without looking at the list (of which one is in the article I linked to above), you can probably guess most of the names. The real surprises so far include that Frazer McLaren, who like a good MIlford Man has neither been seen nor heard from, is still in camp, and Marlie forwards Brandon Kozun and Josh Leivo.

That doesn't spell great news for Carter Ashton.

Getting down to the wire there are only about three to five cuts left, depending on injury status and the number of forwards the team intends to carry. Only two forwards, Leivo and Nylander, are exempt from waivers, and because this is a team run by Randy Carlyle, amazingly the first two names on that list won't automatically be McLaren and Colton Orr.

Last year, when it got down to this point, the Leafs made the brilliant choice to keep two fighters nobody gives a damn about, and traded Joe Colborne for nothing to the Calgary Flames. Colborne would go on to be an adequate depth centre for the Leafs, and because fate is funny like that, the Leafs would immediately have major issues with depth at centre thanks to injuries to Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland.

Carter Ashton's in the same boat. He has the draft pedigree, and was acquired in the hopes he would blossom into a big-bodied skill forward, that as of yet, hasn't materialized. He's shone in the AHL but not had much in the way of opportunity at the NHL level, and when dressed, it's been in 4th line duty. So rather than be surprised when the Leafs eventually panic trade him, let's have some fun.

Fill out this form and give us your best guess to the following;

- when Carter Ashton will be traded (pick a day between September 29 and October 4)
- which team Carter Ashton will be traded to
- what the return on the trade will be

Scoring:

5 points for the correct date, less one point for every day you were off.

5 points for the correct team, 2 points for the correct division, 1 point for the correct conference as consolation points

10 points for guessing the correct return on the trade
lose 1 point per year for guessing the right round of draft pick but the wrong year
lose 1 point per round for guessing the right year of draft pick but the wrong round
lose 2 points for incorrectly guessing whether the pick is "conditional" or not (you do not have to guess the condition, but if you want to guess the pick is conditional, write your guess as "Conditional 4th in 2015")

You can also guess "no trade" but must also guess whether he gets put on waivers and whether he gets claimed on waivers.

15 points for correctly guessing all three as "no" if Ashton makes the team.
You lose if Ashton is traded.
5 point deduction each for wrong answers to "is he put on waivers" or "is he claimed on waivers" questions.

Again, fill out the form to submit your answers.

The contest closes the moment the Maple Leafs release news that Ashton either made the team, is put on waivers, or is traded.