NASHVILLE – On the weekend in which the business of hockey supersedes the action on the ice, the Toronto Maple Leafs have stood idle (so far) while the arms race all around them reached a fever pitch.
And a frightening injury may have added to the pressure on general manager Kyle Dubas to bulk up.
Prior to Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Predators in Nashville, the Maple Leafs players had been discussing the Tampa Bay Lightning’s aggressive acquisition of young 21-goal scorer Brandon Hagel out of Chicago.
In the hours between morning skate and puck drop, the Florida Panthers — already the most explosive offence in the league — added the deadline’s crown offensive jewel: the Cup-chasing, 1,000-game—playing Claude Giroux, who handpicked his sunny landing spot. (Bill “All In” Zito is on a first-round-pick spending spree, having acquired the coveted Ben Chiarot out of Montreal on Wednesday.)
“[Giroux] is competitive. His hockey IQ really jumps out. He’s just really smart. Sees the ice well,” Matthews said of his newest division rival. “He’s a top player in this league for a long time, and I think his resume speaks for itself. So, that’s a great decision to add a guy like that with his experience and his leadership and his skill set.”
Meanwhile, the hard-charging Boston Bruins paid a king’s ransom (a first, a second, a fourth, plus two players) to Anaheim for Hampus Lindholm, the best defenceman the rental market had to offer.
As much as the Leafs players don’t see the point in obsessing over elements beyond their control, the Atlantic’s rush of imported talent is impossible to ignore.
“They’re loading up, and they’ve got some good players for sure,” Toronto’s Justin Holl said. “Teams are going to go on to try to be the best team they can be.
“[Adding] is always good. But regardless of what happens, everyone’s just kinda focused on what they can do on any given night. That stuff is so far out of out of our control, and we obviously don’t have any input in it.”
Mitch Marner considers the message a GM sends to his dressing room when he makes a significant roster addition for the playoffs.
“It means he thinks of our team highly,” Marner said. “But at the same time, we already think of our team highly.”
Rightly so.
The Maple Leafs have the most efficient power-play in the game, a top-five offence, and a vastly improved penalty kill. They have a Calder candidate in Michael Bunting and a Hart-slash-Rocket threat in Auston Matthews.
But their fragility on the blueline and in the blue paint has been exposed over the past two months, and complicated by weeks-long injuries to No. 1 goalie Jack Campbell (rib) and top shutdown defenceman Jake Muzzin (concussion).
Lower on fans’ wish list was a top-six forward. Yet an alarming injury to Ondrej Kase Saturday cut his goal streak at three games and may well nudge Dubas to find scoring help on the flanks.
As Predators forward Matt Duchene rushed through the neutral zone with the puck on his blade in the second period, a flat-footed Kase reached to get a piece of him, led with his head and took a blow that spun him around and down. The collision did not appear malicious.
Disoriented, Kase scrambled toward the bench on his knees before finally getting to his feet and leaving the game. Kase did not return, the Leafs announced, due to precautionary reasons, but his concussion history is of concern.
Auston Matthews says it was nice seeing Kase up and walking around post-game. He’ll be re-evaluated Sunday.
“I was told he’s doing OK. Certainly a lot better than when he came off the ice,” said coach Sheldon Keefe. “You feel for the guy.”
Regardless of Kase’s status, one scary hit reminds fans how badly Toronto’s top six needs everyone healthy.
Dubas typically travels with his team to road games but instead sent assistant GM Laurance Gilman to Tennessee while he hunkered down in a Toronto war room and worked the phones.
The sticker shock on rentals — never Dubas’s preferred target — is jaw-dropping this year, and we wonder how much last season’s aggressive but ill-fated rentals of Nick Foligno and David Rittich have left the GM reluctant to dive into such high-stakes bidding.
To varying degrees, Dubas at least explored trading for Lindholm, Chiarot, Giroux, as well as Josh Manson.
Darren Dreger reported that Dubas considered a package deal with the Blackhawks to bring in Hagel and Vezina-winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury but balked at a steep price that would necessitate parting with blue-chip prospect Matthew Knies in addition to first-round picks.
Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make, they say.
And let’s not forget: Dubas did get a jump on the market by acquiring right-shot defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin from Arizona last month in a salary-dump deal. Lyubushkin is now playing alongside Morgan Rielly in the Leafs’ top pairing.
Toronto-born Mark Giordano remains a target for the Maple Leafs. Ditto Jacob Middleton in San Jose. Will the asking prices come down? Will Dubas pay anyway?
The anticipation thickens.
“Where our team is at, I think it’s overstated,” coach Sheldon Keefe counters. “I don’t see any sort of tension or anxiety or even discussion about it. It’s just our guys going about their business and focus on each day. I don’t think it’s a factor here at all.”
Only time will tell how great a factor it will be.
Fox’s Fast 5
• Campbell skated in Toronto Friday. It’s ambitious to expect him to be a full participant in practice this, but this is a positive sign.
• Keefe on John Tavares tilting the ice and putting up three even-strength points during his two-game rip as top-line centre with wingers Marner and Michael Bunting: “Maybe something we can go to down the line.”
• The Leafs made sure to get Wayne Simmonds in the lineup for his 1,000th game, the ceremony afterward and the Heritage Classic. Since then, however, the proud veteran has been scratched for three games straight.
Judging by how the former Predator felt about his only other benching this season — Nov. 13 on a back-to-back in Buffalo — we cannot imagine this situation sitting well.
“First time for me in 14 years I’ve been healthy scratched in the regular season, so it’s a little bit of a tough pill to swallow,” Simmonds reacted in November. “If it’s up to me, I’m playing every night.”
• Wild stat: Only six NHL defencemen have ever reached the 70-point mark in fewer games than Roman Josi (72 points in 59 games played): Bobby Orr, Dennis Potvin, Paul Coffey, Brian Leetch, Phil Housley and Al MacInnis.
Josi is the quickest D-man to accomplish the feat since 1992. He added three assists Saturday to bring his total to 75 points and could well set a franchise record for most points in a Predators season.
“He’s a very unique and special defenceman in terms of what he adds offensively,” Keefe says. “As dangerous as anybody in the league.”
• Random sighting in downtown Nashville: Me and George St-Pierre were eating at Shake Shack at the same time. Can only assume he got a double.
