What's down there in the minors?

Sometimes we talk about the Marlies in an abstract way as if they're the same team year after year, chock full of hot prospects. That is not at all true this season.

So who is down there, and who could join the team if the Leafs trade enough players to start cutting into the depth? Note, that at the moment the Leafs have 14 healthy forwards and seven healthy defence, so it's not like there's a pressing need, but there might be a vacancy in the pressbox by next Friday.

We've seen the defence depth, but why not run the names down to remind ourselves of what trading Brandon Carlo or Oliver Ekman-Larsson really entails.

1. Phil Myers, in the NHL but rarely playing is the first man up.
2. Henry Thrun, who was on the roster for a while and played in four games is next.
3. Matt Benning, who is 2B to Thrun's 2A has one game for the Leafs.
4. Dakota Mermis, plausibly 2C on this list, has eleven games played and one goal, for the only point of the three tied as the eighth defender.
5. Marshall Rifai also has one game played, and while he had a good training camp, his injury derailed that pretty comprehensively
6. After those fellows comes Cade Webber, Blake Smith, John Prokop and William Villeneuve. Of note, Villeneuve was at practice before the Olympic break was over when the Leafs needed a defence body. He has his fans, and I'm not one of them, but he's the only actual prospect on this list until...
7. Noah Chadwick is younger than Villeneuve and hasn't jumped over him on the Marlies, so I think we are not due to see this guy for any reason this year.

And now the forwards:

1. Easton Cowan would actually play every game if they traded someone.
2. Calle Järnkrok is the other common extra right now, and insulates the team from needing to go digging for more.
3. Jacob Quillan has been the go-to guy when the team needed a forward, and no one would cry if he was the 4C for the rest of the year. He has four NHL games so far.
4. Luke Haymes is a slightly younger, similar forward to Quillan, but his youth might keep him in the development league.

Some thoughts on Haymes here from the coach:

5. Michael Pezzetta isn't very good at hockey, but he has a lot of NHL experience in recent years.
6. Travis Boyd and Vinni Lettieri are the veterans on the Marlies who used to play more serious pro hockey, they can do a twirl on the fourth line, but Boyd is currently injured long term.
7. Bo Groulx is the dark horse who was called up during the Olympics as well. He has spoken lately about getting eligibility for the next Olympics for France (his other country of origin) which involves playing in Europe, so he seems to be pretty clear about his level. He played half of one season with the Ducks a couple of years ago.

That's pretty much the likely suspects, and I'm a little surprised I found so many. It sure seems like an emptying out is possible to do. Just, you know, not possible to come back from very easily, so don't bet the farm that the Leafs have to dig deep this weekend for a roster.