A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Honey, I’m not broke. I’m just accruing cap space.
1. One of the most interesting revelations from Elliotte Friedman’s detailed breakdown of how things broke down between Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs had nothing to do with Marner directly.
Citing multiple sources, Friedman reported that the groundwork for Auston Matthews’ four-year extension, which was signed in August of 2023, was laid in the summer of 2022, two years before the superstar could potentially leave as a UFA and one year before he was eligible to extend.
Matthews informed the Maple Leafs he would re-sign, provided the team that drafted and built around him was still contending for a Stanley Cup. Relatively speaking, negotiations ran smoothly, and the future captain recommitted before training camp opened. As rich as his deal was, he could’ve milked Toronto for more.
That two-years-out mark with Matthews (UFA 2028) is coming around again this summer, and the underachieving Maple Leafs — currently 15th in the Eastern Conference — must gain similar clarity this off-season.
Do we need to worry?
No need to get alarmist here.
Matthews has never indicated a desire to jump ship; the Maple Leafs have never indicated a willingness to trade their centrepiece. In fact, GM Brad Treliving was asked point-blank in December if Matthews had asked out.
No.
Yes, a roster reset is in order, but a scorched-earth rebuild isn’t the play. Yet.
Not while 34 is still in the city.
However, the 2026-27 season is shaping up as Matthews’ “Quinn Hughes year,” the year before his walk year, where wheels begin to turn and, in this age of player control, the team must prove worthy.
Like Hughes, Matthews has the individual accolades. He’s seeking that elusive team success. Our sense is he’d prefer to win where he started this decade-long journey.
But what if Toronto’s slide isn’t a one-off? What if the Leafs don’t get this train back on the rails, the way Vegas and Tampa did, missing the playoffs in cursed campaigns before rebounding to hoist their banners?
As in Vancouver at the outset of this season, the pressure to get off to a strong start will be high in Toronto come fall.
Matthews is far from alone in this regard.
It’s no secret that his agent, Judd Moldaver, also represents Norris-conversation defenceman Zach Werenski and Connor McDavid. They’ve all been loyal to their original organizations; they’re all desperate for team success.
They’re all free to walk in 2028.
What’s encouraging, though, is that Moldaver worked with the Leafs and Oilers on his leverage-wielding superstars’ most recent deals. The sides knew where each other stood.
Worst-case scenario, we don’t foresee a burning of the bridges if Plan A goes poof in smoke.
We also don’t see any of those three eager to be part of a full-scale rebuild while they’re still in their prime.
2. Treliving has made some fine individual moves. The signing of Oliver Ekman-Larsson pops to mind, as do the RFA extensions for Matthew Knies and Dennis Hildeby, which should age nicely.
But the last-minute 2025 deadline deal of centre prospect Fraser Minten plus a first- and fourth-rounder to a divisional rival in exchange for Brandon Carlo is aging like left-out camembert in the Sahara.
At 21 years old, Minten is on pace for 20 goals and 40 points. Bruins fans have fallen head over heels.
The 2026 first is top-five protected, so we don’t know the total damage just yet.
But the Leafs are low on defensively responsible forwards, and it should be infuriating that the past regime (in the case of Zach Hyman) and the current one (Minten and Pontus Holmberg, who’s doing fine in Tampa) failed to retain the ones they had.
3. Climate Pledge Arena was charging $90 (U.S.) for event parking at Thursday’s Leafs-Kraken game. That’s steep when the entertainment is stingy, grinding, low-scoring hockey by a bubble team begging for star power.
Empty seats could be found.
As January ends, the Kraken still don’t have a 40-point player. The team’s top point-getters, Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle, are tied for 94th-best in the league.
No wonder Seattle is making a pitch (along with everyone and their mother) for Artemi Panarin.
At least risk-averse Lane Lambert is coaching to the personnel at his disposal, overseeing a top-10 defence in terms of goals against.
“They’ve defended pretty well this year. Their goaltending has been really solid. And they’ve got some skill up and down their lineup. It’s not all on one line. I think, you know, they’re pretty deep with three lines,” Toronto’s Craig Berube said.
“Lane has got them playing good defence. That’s what they’re relying on — and their goaltending.”
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32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
4. Quote of the Week.
“Scary for him.” — Leon Draisaitl, on the idea of lining up against Canada’s Connor McDavid at the Olympics
5. If you think Mortiz Seider is playing a lot now (25:34), wait ’til Milan.
Of the seven German skaters in the NHL, the Red Wings dress the only defenceman. And he can’t wait to feed Draisaitl passes as opposed to guarding him down low.
“But also, we gotta be honest with ourselves. We’ve got 20 other guys who can do the job, too. It shouldn’t all be on his shoulders. Yes, he’s our spotlight. He’s our player and our go-to guy. But we cannot only rely on him. There are 20 other players. We all have to step up and share the load,” Seider said.
Love that attitude.
Germany will be in tough against the U.S. in round-robin action, but beating Group C opponents Denmark and Latvia could well pave way to the knockout round.
Add Tim Stützle and JJ Peterka, and Germany has never dressed so many game-breakers.
“You got to limit those expectations a little bit,” Seider said. “Yes, we’ll have the best team ever. But so does everyone else.
“We do a lot of good work for a small hockey country as we are, but we’ll be the underdog. And that’s totally fine. We got to take it game by game and just embrace the challenge, and really try to soak in the whole spirit of the Games. And then everything’s possible within one game. Hopefully get to a good start against Denmark and Latvia, and then you have a great challenge against the U.S., obviously a very fun team to watch.
“Then it’s one playoff game at a time. So, in one game, everything’s possible.”
6. Seider gets a kick out of talking to newly minted U.S.-born scoring champ Patrick Kane about “the good old days.” (Way to make a reporter feel old, Moritz.) But he’s quick to add a caveat.
“We try to create our own memories too, and hopefully we can tell a couple stories in a couple years with him and about him,” Seider said. “We always listen to him in crunch situations. He’s been through everything. He’s kind of lived every situation this sport has to offer. So, he’s always a very good person to listen to. And then, he’s just a lot of fun too.
“He’s a tremendous hockey player, but he’s a great guy off the ice who really cares about each and every one in this locker room. I think that’s why we’re so happy to have him on the team. He isn’t afraid to even throw his body on the line when it has to be. And that just shows a lot of character, too. If Kaner does it, everyone else should do it, too.”
7. The Avalanche have a knack for finding impactful blueliners.
Chris Drury got the jump on D-man Sam Malinski’s contract year, preventing the late bloomer from hitting the open market with a life-changing four-year, $19-million extension.
Malinski, 27, more than tripled his salary.
The right shot plays fast, which suits the team’s style, and he couldn’t have timed his career year better. He’s a plus-27 asset despite starting half his shifts in the D-zone, and 24 of his 25 points have come at even strength.
Tidy business.
8. So much to love about this photograph of Colorado’s all-time defencemen. But seeing Ray Bourque on his tiptoes is delightful.
9. Mathieu Darche’s bet on character and clutch led him to take the long-shopped Ondrej Palat off the hands of the New Jersey Devils, a Metro rival.
The cap-crunched Tom Fitzgerald has been under the gun to clear the 34-year-old’s $6 million salary, so he accepted a reclamation project, Maxim Tsyplakov, and surrendered a third-rounder to do so.
Don’t let them tell you players with no-move clauses can’t be moved.
You just need the right dance partner.
Palat is a big winner here, as he gets a fresh start and an opportunity to skate on Islanders centre Bo Horvat’s top line.
10. Macklin Celebrini is next-level impressive. A treat to watch. And he’s dragging the San Jose Sharks into relevance the right way.
See this?
Celebrini is also not No. 1 on my (fluid) Hart Trophy ballot… yet.
When our forefathers invented hockey’s MVP award, they deemed it should go to “the player most valuable to his team.”
I don’t believe the spirit here is to study the gap between the best and second-best player on each team and to punish the best for happening to also have good teammates.
Connor McDavid goes down a notch because he has Draisaitl in his room? Nathan MacKinnon gets docked because Cale Makar is awesome and Martin Necas is a threat?
That a teenage Celebrini (79 points) is 42 points ahead of the second-most-productive Shark (Will Smith, 37 points) is bonkers.
But McDavid, MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov shouldn’t be punished because the Sharks don’t have a proper supporting cast this season.
11. As the Maple Leafs silently walked off the ice in Seattle, heads hung, Carlo’s stride was hindered by a noticeable limp.
The big D-man is one of countless NHLers who should be served well by the Olympic break.
“It’s definitely not going to be a bad thing to have a mental reset, by any means. It’s lucky that the season will afford to have that time,” Carlo says.
“For me, specifically, with the injuries and whatnot, there’s been some battles to go through this season, mentally and physically. But right now, with our group, a mental reset would be a huge thing for us. And you got to be capable of doing that in-season regardless. We’re trying to do that tonight, not wait (three) games to have that mental reset.”
A big family-oriented guy, Carlo will fly home to spend time with loved ones in Colorado, then drop the kids off and zip to Mexico with his wife for some sunrays.
He says it’s human nature for the mind to wander when a bye week or Christmas break looms.
“But the best recipe I found is just trying to stay present. Because if you’re focused on that stuff, it can take you out of the present from the games and the task at hand that we need to be handling right now,” Carlo continued.
“If I had any two cents on that, I’m just trying to stay as present as possible for these next games.”
12. All the Buffalo Sabres do is win. Since Dec. 9, no hockey team has been better.
Dare we say, they look… for real.
“Top to bottom, everyone’s doing their job, everyone’s having fun out there,” winger Josh Doan said between signing his extension and extending their latest win streak to five. “We’re playing fast. Playing fast is something that’s allowed us to have success.”
Tage Thompson believes the Sabres’ in-sync quickness wears down the opposition.
“Our identity as a team is our speed. When we’re playing fast and moving the puck north is when we get a lot of our looks. The only thing that really gets us into trouble is managing the puck.”
Run and gun and super fun, kinda like owner Terry Pegula’s other team.
“They’re really dynamic off the rush. That’s one aspect of their game that they’ve kinda always had, and they’ve really expanded with that,” said Toronto’s Bobby McMann.
“They’re a good offensive team. They play fast, and they can turn around quick on you if you’re not smart with the puck.”
Good on Western New York. Those sports fans deserve something to get excited about.
This response from Buffalo native Alex Tuch is run-through-a-wall stuff:
