Maple Leafs set to send ECHL team to the Rock

There’s still nothing official from the Toronto Maple Leafs, but a deal to put an ECHL team in St. John’s, N.L., is moving ahead.

The ECHL, a notch below the American Hockey League and where Toronto currently has a team in Orlando, Fla., called the Solar Bears, has confirmed it will have a club in St. John’s next season. News outlets in the province said a tentative agreement is in place with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

The Leafs, who operated an AHL team in St. John’s for 14 years before moving it to Ricoh Coliseum just west of their downtown Toronto home, broke a lot of hearts when they left in 2005.

The St. John’s Telegram says a move back would likely be the forerunner to a Leafs training camp at Mile One Arena in 2019 or later and that the Leafs would use the team much more than Orlando, sending everyone from prospects to assistant coaches to medical and support staff to the city as an NHL training ground.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on recent AHL call- up Andreas Johnsson when the Leafs invade Amalie Arena to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.

While veterans such as Nazem Kadri, Mitch Marner, Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov have been excellent, count on a couple of rookies — Toronto’s Johnsson and Tampa’s Anthony Cirelli — making an impact in the divisional rivalry for years.

Neither was a high pick (Johnsson went 202nd overall in 2013, while Cirelli was No. 72 in 2015) but both have shown in their initial NHL days they have potential.

Here are five things to watch for in Tuesday’s Atlantic 1 Division matchup: Who will be in net for the Leafs? Frederik Andersen appears ready to return from injury, while Curtis McElhinney has been terrific as a spot starter, posting 2 a .935 save percentage. The Leafs have been lights out on the power play, going eight for 12 in their past five games. Marner has been the catalyst, scoring twice and setting up four others, while Morgan Rielly has five assists. Tampa is not great on the penalty kill, ranking 28th in 3 the NHL at home. The Leafs lost in a shootout in Tampa just 22 days ago, a game in which the Bolts possessed the puck 62 per cent of the game. It’ll be interesting to see what Toronto has learned 4 in going 4-2-1 since. Though Tomas Plekanec made his Leafs debut when the teams last met, the Leafs did not see Tampa’s J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh, acquired from the New York Rangers. Miller could be a problem, as he has 10 points in nine games since the trade. 5 As much as the Leafs are unbeatable at home, riding a 2017-18 NHL-best 12-game winning streak, they’ve gone 2-4-2 in the last eight road games.