COST TO ACQUIRE BACKUP GOALIE RISING QUICKLY FOR MAPLE LEAFS
Dubas let the situation become desperate and now GMS can smell blood in the water
Would you trade Kasperi Kapanen for a backup goalie?
They say the worst time to trade a player is when he’s underperforming. Well, the second-worst time to make a trade is when you’re desperate.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who are without goaltender Frederik Andersen for the foreseeable future, are in the latter category — and every other general manager in the league knows it.
You want Alexandar Georgiev of the New York Rangers? It’s going to cost you. You want Pittsburgh’s Casey Desmith or San Jose’s Aaron Dell or Minnesota’s Alex Stalock? Guess what, the price just went up.
This is the situation that GM Kyle Dubas finds himself in. He knows that, in order to make the playoffs, the Leafs need to find a capable goaltender to stop the bleeding until Andersen returns.
Lucky for him there are plenty of options out there that can help. The problem is now that others can smell blood in the water, it’s going to cost more than the Leafs might have had to spend at this time last week.
The question is: Why did Dubas wait so long to make this move? Even before Andersen hurt his neck in a game on Monday, it was no secret the Leafs needed help in net. They’ve needed help ever since losing Curtis Mcelhinney on waivers before the 2018-19 season. Since that time, the Leafs have amassed a combined record of 14-21-2 when their backup goalies start.
Maybe losing Kapanen for a backup goalie is well worth it. That is, unless another team decides they don’t just want Kapanen, but also a prospect and a pick to go along with him.
The Leafs better decide if that’s a fair deal, because the longer they wait, the higher the prices will go.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Given the choice between
Alex Ovechkin or the field, I’ll take Ovechkin to win the Rocket Richard Trophy this year for the simple fact he’s able to score in bunches. The Washington Capitals’ captain, who leads with 40 goals, has a hat trick in three of his past six games — and has four on the season. Auston Matthews has just two in his career … Oddest thing about Ovechkin’s offensive season is that he’s a minus player (-8) for the first time in six years and has only 17 assists. At this rate, he’ll finish with fewer than 30 helpers for the first time in four seasons. In each of the four years where he reached the 100-point mark, he had at least 47 assists.
HERE’S ONE FOR YOU
First impressions don’t always mean much with goalies. Columbus rookie Elvis Merzlikins began his NHL career this season with no wins in his first eight games. Since then, he’s gone 11-2-0 with four shutouts and a .951 save percentage … The Flyers received some optimistic news on Wednesday when Nolan Patrick, who hasn’t played this season because of a migraine disorder, joined the team for practice. No word on when the 21-year-old centre will return to the lineup, but if it comes in the next month, it could be better than any type of deadline acquisition for a team trying to stay in the hunt … The busiest team at last year’s deadline was the Winnipeg Jets. With the team on the bubble and plenty of cap space to spare now that Dustin Byfuglien is gone for good, don’t expect that to change this year.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
How weak is the West this year? Consider the Montreal Canadiens are ranked 11th in the Eastern Conference standings with 57 points. If they were in the West, they would have the same number of points as the ninthplace Predators … If you were to rank the best teams in the league one through 16, the Flames and Coyotes wouldn’t be in the playoffs, but the Leafs and Hurricanes
would be. Also, Toronto would still face Boston in the first round. They just can’t seem to avoid one another … Don’t be surprised if the Canadiens take a page out of the Blue Jackets’ playbook and become buyers at the deadline. In the past 10 games since adding Ilya Kovalchuk, the team is 7-3-0. A couple more of those deals and they could sneak into the playoffs.
SELLERS MARKET FOR DEFENCEMEN
With Dustin Byfuglien not returning to Winnipeg, the trade demands for rental defencemen just received a boost. The problem is, the Jets are far from the only team looking for reinforcements in what’s looking like a sellers’ market.
Here are six names that could end up in Winnipeg, Toronto, Florida or anywhere else with a thin blue line:
Matt Dumba, Minnesota Wild
Cap hit: $6-million, expires in 2023
This has been an uncharacteristically quiet season from the offensive defenceman, who has just four goals and 18 points in 52 games. Whatever team gets him better hope it’s nothing that a change in scenery can’t fix.
Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers
Cap hit: $4.5-million, expires in 2023
The Flyers are in a playoff spot, which makes trading Gostisbehere problematic. Then again, he’s been out for the past 10 games, so it’s not like they’ve been missing him. But when he’s healthy, he can still quarterback a power play like few others.
Josh Manson, Anaheim Ducks Cap hit: $4.1-million, expires in 2022
The 28-year-old is a younger version of Jake Muzzin. He won’t produce much in the way of offence, but if it’s size and stability you need, Manson is what you’re looking for.
Rasmus Ristolainen,
Buffalo Sabres
Cap hit: $5.4-million, expires in 2022
The six-foot-four, 220-pound defenceman is leading the Sabres in playing time and doing it with a far better plus-minus rating (-3) than a year ago (-41). With two years remaining, he is also more than just a rental.
Alec Martinez, Los Angeles Kings Cap hit: $4-million, expires in 2021
If playoff pedigree is what you’re after, the stay-at-home defenceman, who has another year remaining on his deal, certainly fits the bill. He’s won two Stanley Cups and has played in 64 playoff games during a career that’s reaching the 600-game mark.
Brenden Dillon, San Jose
Cap hit: $3.27-million, expires in 2020
As a pure rental, you really can’t go wrong with Dillon. That is, as long as you’re not looking for anything more than a defenceman who can clear space in front of his net and kill penalties. Anything more and Dillon, who has one goal and 13 points, is out of his element.
EICHEL SHOULD BE HART TROPHY CANDIDATE
Has Jack Eichel become the new Connor Mcdavid? With 31 goals and 66 points in 52 games, Eichel is having an Mvp-worthy season. The only problem is, he’s having it on a team that’s 12 points back of a playoff spot and looking like they’ll once again miss out on the post-season for the ninth straight year.
For the Sabres captain, who has never finished higher than 13th out of the 16 teams in the Eastern Conference standings, this is nothing new. But for the fans who booed the team off the ice for reportedly the third time in four games following a 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, patience is wearing thin.
“What’s going on? What are we doing?” Duane Alan Steinel told WGR 550 radio in a now infamous rant last week. “Have they ever sucked the passion out of you like they have me? I’ve dedicated my life to hockey because of this team? Like, I can’t do it anymore, man. I’m seriously considering for the first time not being a season-ticket holder this year.”
This was supposed to be the year when Buffalo took a step toward playoff contention. After an 8-1-1 start to the season, when the Ralph Krueger-led Sabres had the best record in the NHL, it looked like they just might do it. But injuries and inconsistent play have once again plagued a team on its third head coach and second GM since drafting Eichel with the No. 2 overall pick in 2015.
While Rasmus Dahlin and Victor Olofsson have both missed time, the bigger concerns are the contracts GM Jason Botterill has handed out in the past couple of years.
Jeff Skinner, who was rewarded with an eight-year deal worth $9-million annually, has no goals in his past 15 games and just 11 goals and 19 points on the season.
Marcus Johansson, who signed a two-year deal worth $9 million, has one goal in his past 22 games.
With the deadline approaching, Botterill should be getting calls on forwards Conor Sheary and Michael Frolik, as well as Ristolainen. The question is whether Botterill, who’s job might be in jeopardy after three years of being unable to right the ship, should be the one in charge of pulling the trigger.