Leafs have eventful countdown to trade deadline
The Maple Leafs are crunched on one side by a packed game schedule and on the other by Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
Who comes through it all — either healthy, hot, cold, still wearing blue or booking a flight out of Pearson
— is the narrative the next 72 hours.
Winger Max Domi has been dealt a couple of times in March and, though much safer this year after signing here as a free agent, he agrees it’s the most turbulent time of the schedule.
“I’m sure for some guys it’s tough, especially for those who have families. But it’s exciting. I was given the chance to go from a team out of the playoffs to a team that’s in,” Domi said.
“(A trade) makes you feel wanted, but the ultimate goal is to win and you want to be on a team that’s closest to that.
“(Trade speculation) is part of the job, part of the business.”
General manager Brad Treliving’s toes must be sore from kicking so many tires. Known among peers as someone active in most trade talks, even if just for research purposes, he’s unlikely to stop with the one deal he made in the countdown to the deadline — acquiring defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin for a third- and sixth-round pick in a three-team deal to alleviate cap concerns.
While predecessor Kyle Dubas had much more personal investment in the roster in his nine years here, Treliving would be less hesitant to try something radical, an ‘all-in’ approach in what most observers think is a shrinking Stanley Cup window for this current group.
While Treliving said he wouldn’t be swayed by sudden win streaks or slumps in the coming days, the elation of beating the Rangers contrasted in losing Monday’s measuring stick game to Boston.
Another right-handed defenceman is on the wish list, or perhaps a veteran on either side pending Mark Giordano’s concussion. Zach Bogosian, a 33-year-old welltravelled one-time Leaf now in Minnesota, has heard his name raised.
The defensive struggles of the Domi-tyler Bertuzzi-William Nylander line have been underlined. Winger Nick Robertson could be put into a larger package if Treliving parts with his firstround draft pick or one of hot prospects Easton Cowan or Fraser Minten. The Leafs do like the flexibility of sending Robertson back and forth to the farm for cap issues.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe spent part of Monday’s brief workout, before back-to-back games here against Buffalo on Wednesday and Thursday in Boston, trying to build back defenceman Timothy Liljegren’s confidence and chatting with Pontus Holberg, who could be the fourth-line centre Wednesday as David Kampf missed the workout with the flu.
Liljegren was on the ice for three of four Boston goals, including one on the power play.
“He has to dust himself off and get ready for the next game,” Keefe said. “We have four in six nights (ending Saturday in Montreal). No time for anything other than preparing for the next one.
“We’ve given him a great opportunity, he was building some positive momentum. You slip a bit, you have to stay confident in the good things you’ve done.”
A new wrinkle was righthanded defenceman Conor Timmins’ first practice since a bout of mononucleosis, but given it was an abbreviated session and Keefe likes a full workout before putting absentees back in the lineup, don’t look for him Wednesday night.
Timmins was at least cleared for contact, as a symptom of the mono is an enlarged spleen. He already has had to fight through a knee injury that derailed a strong training camp.
Keefe also took Holmberg aside for a pep talk.
“More just a reminder that if you want to play in the league every day on a good team, you have to bring it all the time,” Keefe said. “In the last couple of games, while we’ve liked his line (with Kampf and Ryan Reaves) and his game, he’s slipped a bit.
“The first (Boston) goal (Monday) night, he had an opportunity to kill a play for us before they had a chance to get anywhere near our net, the type of play I expect all our players to manage in that situation. But for a young, hungry guy looking to solidify a place in the league, that’s a spot he has to be great in.”