‘Excited to have him’
Plekanec brings depth, veteran experience to Leafs
TAMPA — Nothing like a small bonus for Tomas Plekanec upon joining the Maple Leafs.
“I didn’t have to change the colours of the turtleneck,” Plekanec said jokingly on Monday at Amalie Arena, following his first morning skate with the Leafs. “That’s good.”
Leafs coach Mike Babcock will be just as pleased if Plekanec doesn’t change anything as the 35-year-old gets comfortable with his new team.
“Mature player, knows how to play without the puck,” Babcock said. “Good faceoff guy, especially on his strong side. Can penalty kill for us, can play against the best players.”
Did the Leafs absolutely have to acquire Plekanec? No. But there’s plenty of value in adding him, especially when the cost — defenceman Rinat Valiev, forward Kerby Rychel and a second-round pick in 2018 — was not steep.
“What we are trying to do is get as deep a group as we can possibly have,” Babcock said. “There is always injuries. You want to be prepared for that too and then just set yourself up the best you possibly can.
“We’re excited to have him. He has been a long time in one spot. I know I was in a long time in one spot (Detroit) before I got here and it can be unnerving a little bit, but it gets the energy going and gets the juices flowing.”
The first task of Plekanec, wearing No. 19, was to centre Leo Komarov and Josh Leivo on the Leafs’ fourth line against Tampa Bay on Monday night. Plekanec took the spot of Dominic Moore, who was a healthy scratch for the 19th time this season.
Plekanec had known only the Canadiens logo, playing in 981 games during 14 seasons with Montreal after the Habs picked him 71st in the 2001 National Hockey League draft. Crucial from the Leafs’ perspective is Plekanec’s NHL playoff experience, totalling 87 games.
While he knows just a few Leafs — Roman Polak, Ron Hainsey and Dominic Moore — Plekanec was not expecting an arduous transition period with his new teammates.
“I’m going to do my best to gel in right away and be as best as possible,” Plekanec said.
“(Wearing a new logo is) different, right? It has been pretty quick and that’s the business side of it. I’m really excited to join the Maple Leafs right now for the playoffs and I’m really happy about it.”
How about shaving, per general manager Lou Lamoriello’s rules? Gone was Plekanec’s goatee.
“It was a different look in the mirror,” Plekanec said. “But that’s the way it is, those are the rules and I don’t have problem with the rules. Right away, I got messages from guys I played with who played under Lou, they told me ‘You have to shave that.’”