National Post (National Edition)
Leafs should upgrade while they can
HALL MAY BE AVAILABLE; SABRES' IDEA OF PLAYING HIM WITH EICHEL A DISASTER
If you were Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, what would be at the top of your wish list ahead of next month's trade deadline?
Do you go for more offence or more grit? More skill or more experience? A top-six forward or a left-shot defenceman?
With the way that the team has steamrollered to the top of the North Division standings, do you even bother making a move?
Indeed, now might not be the time to talk about what the Leafs need for the playoffs. Not with Toronto owning the best record in the entire NHL. Not with the team winning games without Auston Matthews, Wayne Simmonds and it's No. 1 or No. 2 goalies.
And yet, Dubas cannot afford to wait too long to make a decision before the April 12 deadline. Unless you're trading within the country, you also have to account for a 14-day quarantine. That doesn't leave the Leafs GM much time to decide whom, he's targeting.
Healthy or injured, Toronto appears good enough to advance past the likes of Winnipeg, Edmonton or Montreal in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But it's the great unknown of what comes after that — it should have Dubas scouring the trade market for additional help.
A year ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning were in a similar position to where Toronto is now. They were cruising along as one of the best teams in the league. But they still went big at the deadline, giving up a pair of first-round draft picks for Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, then beefed up their blue line with the additions of Zach Bogosian and Luke Schenn.
None of those players was among Tampa's top five in playoff scoring or among the top 10 in ice time. But at some point, each of them provided the necessary grit that was essential in helping a skilled Lightning team advance past the Blue Jackets, Bruins, Islanders and Stars.
If I were Dubas, I'd be looking for something along those lines.
The team doesn't need a winger like Taylor Hall. It doesn't need more skill or scoring. It needs more blue-collar players like Bogosian and Simmonds. Guys like Nashville defenceman Mattias Ekholm and Calgary forward Sam Bennett. It needs guys that can push back against Boston and Tampa Bay and Vegas, guys that can help the Leafs go the distance.
This is the best Leafs team in many, many years. And with the Bruins and Lightning not in their division, this might be the easiest path to the conference final that the team will ever have.
Now, it's time to take advantage of that.
ALL BETS ARE OFF WITH TAYLOR HALL
Taylor Hall was clearly betting on himself when he signed a one-year contract worth US$8 million with the Buffalo Sabres in October. But he was also betting that playing with Jack Eichel would lead to even bigger riches down the line.
After all, if Jeff Skinner could go from scoring 40 goals alongside Eichel to securing an eight-year extension worth $72 million, imagine what the possibilities would be for a Hart Trophy winner.
It seemed like as safe a bet as any. But two months into the season, no one could have wagered this would be happening.
The Sabres, who are en route to missing the playoffs for a 10th straight year, are not being led by Hall and Eichel. Instead, Sam Reinhart leads the team with eight goals and Victor Olofsson leads with 16 points.
Hall has one goal and 12 points in 20 games. Eichel has two goals and 15 points.
A duo that was supposed to dominate the nightly score sheets and get Buffalo back in the playoffs has been a disaster.
The last time Hall scored was in the first game of the season. The last time Eichel scored was more than a month ago.
Hall, who is no longer playing on a line with Eichel, has no even-strength goals and six even-strength points. His minus-14 rating is the second worst on the team. It's been four games since he recorded an assist.
More and more, he is looking like the worst signing of the off-season.
Really, it's not even close. For half of what Hall is making, Montreal's Tyler Toffoli has 13 goals and 18 points. Florida's Carter Verhaeghe, who is earning $1 million, has seven goals and 15 points. Even Toronto's Joe Thornton has 10 points in 11 games while making the league minimum.
Luckily for Hall, his struggles have been overshadowed by Eichel's own struggles and Skinner's daily drama of being a $9-million healthy scratch. But the lack of offence coming from Hall is a big reason why the Sabres have lost four straight and are in last place in the East Division.
And it's why the 29-yearold will likely be moved before next month's trade deadline.
The only question is whether he can do enough with his next team to earn that next big raise. Or whether the Sabres can get anything of value for him.
CANADA LACKS GOLD-WORTHY
GOALIES
Will goaltending prevent Canada from winning gold at next year's Olympics?
This was never a question this country had to answer. Goaltending has always been our strength, the one thing we could depend on. Whether it was Patrick Roy or Martin Brodeur or Roberto Luongo or Carey Price, Canada always had the edge over Russia, Sweden and the U.S. in net.
Well, not any more.
The best goalie in the world today is Russia's Andrei Vasilevskiy. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner is Connor Hellebuyck of the United States. Finland has Tuukka Rask and Sweden has Jacob Markstrom.
Canada, meanwhile, has a bunch of question marks.
Price and Carter Hart, who many had expected would be the tandem in 2022, are among the bottom-10 in save percentages. Price, who just got his goalie coach fired, is no longer the best goalie in Canada. He's not even the best goalie on his team any more. The 22-year-old Hart, who has a 3.49 goals-against average for the Flyers, is having the kind of year that makes you wonder if he wouldn't be better suited for the 2026 Olympics.
With both goalies playing themselves off the team, here are three other options worth keeping an eye on:
Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Fleury, who will be 37 by the time the Olympics are held next year, is 10-3-0 with a .931 save percentage. And while his age might be holding him back from consideration, keep in mind that Martin Brodeur was the same age when he was Canada's starter in 2010.
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis
The late bloomer had a meltdown the other night when he got pulled from a game and then tried to pick a fight with half of the Sharks' roster. But that's a sign of competitiveness more than anything. Binnington has won a Stanley Cup and has a 62-24-10 record after 100 NHL regular season games.
Mackenzie Blackwood, New Jersey
Don't look at Blackwood's win-loss record. In three years for the rebuilding Devils, the 24-year-old has never had a goals-against average higher than 2.77 or a save percentage lower than .915. Put him behind better players and those numbers probably would improve.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Timing will be everything in this year's trade deadline. With players requiring to quarantine for up to two weeks following a trade, don't be surprised if we see teams pulling the trigger as early as this week. The only problem is that aside from Ottawa, Detroit, Buffalo and Anaheim, the line between the buyers and sellers has never be this blurred … Full marks to the Leafs for being able to win a couple of games without Auston Matthews in the lineup. But let's not go overboard. The Lightning, who won the Stanley Cup last year without their captain playing more than a half dozen minutes, have the best record in the East Division this year without Nikita Kucherov having played a single game … If you're the Flames, would you trade Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett for Jack Eichel? Better yet, if the Jets would have been willing to wait, could they have traded Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic for Eichel rather than PierreLuc Dubois? … In any other year, I'd praise Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen for standing by his coach during a tough stretch for the team. But this isn't any other year. With John Tortorella in the final year of his contract and with Claude Julien, Gerard Gallant and so many other top coaches available, this was a perfect opportunity to make a change.
HERE'S ONE FOR YOU
Vancouver's Quinn Hughes leads all defencemen with 22 points and Montreal's Jeff Petry leads defencemen with seven goals. But barring an injury, I can't see a scenario where Victor Hedman (four goals and 20 points) doesn't win the Norris Trophy. Some believe he's been so instrumental to Tampa Bay's success this year that he should even get some Hart Trophy recognition … Good on Drew Doughty for telling the NHL Network that it “frustrates me” whenever someone suggests he's not good enough to make Canada's Olympics team. And good on him for backing up his words with his play. Doughty, who has 17 points, is logging the secondmost minutes in the NHL for a Kings team that is holding down a playoff spot. He's a lock for a top-pairing role on Team Canada … Of all the players that Ottawa pushed out the door in recent years, Mark Stone is the one they probably wished they could have back. Fans always knew Stone was good. But with 22 points in 18 games, the Golden Knights captain has taken his game to an even higher level this year. As for Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris and Matt Duchene, management made the right call.
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH
According to TSN's Frank Seravalli, Canada's slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine could affect leaguewide revenues because teams north of the border might not be able to fill arenas to capacity next season. That's the bad news. The good news? If not enough Canadians are vaccinated by October 2021, we could be looking at another year of the North Division … Based on Carey Price's numbers this year, I fully get why the Canadiens replaced goalie coach Stéphane Waite with Sean Burke. What I don't get is why they didn't make the change at the same time as when they fired their head coach last week. To announce the decision minutes after Dominique Ducharme won his first game as a head coach was as bad as trading Mike Cammalleri between periods of a game … Kirill Kaprizov has one more goal and four more points over Tim Stutzle in the rookie scoring race. But you can expect that age and experience will come into play when voters are deciding who deserves the Calder Trophy. Stutzle just turned 19. Kaprizov, who spent the past six years in the KHL, turns 24 in April.