After everyone but Joffrey Lupul, Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf got a week's rest, the Maple Leafs begin their 33 game stretch drive towards a possible playoff berth with a home-and-home match against the Penguins tonight at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
Toronto has won three of their last four games and is tied with Florida and New Jersey for the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
Coach Ron Wilson will suit up the same lineup that won back-to-back games over the New York Islanders, with Jonas Gustavsson starting his fifth straight contest and eleventh in the month of January, but the roster may be going through changes in the very near future, as recently signed defenseman John-Michael Liles and forward Colby Armstrong are close to returning from lengthy absences due to concussion related issues and Darryl Boyce has recovered from back spasms.
The overflowing roster may be remedied by the demotion of young players like Keith Aulie and Nazem Kadri, who will not have to go through waivers or a role player like Jay Rosehill who has a one-way deal, but the rumors of impending deals have increased in volume and intensity.
As events occur this week, they could very well have an effect on the possible avenues open to GM Brian Burke. Just as the contract extension of Liles put the Leafs in a more nimble position to trade one of their stockpile of defensemen, Carolina’s re-signing of defenseman Tim Gleason may bring more interested customers to the Leafs doorstep.
The pending unrestricted free agent was expected to be a prime target for teams needing to add a quality veteran blueliner before February 27th, but instead the 29 year old signed a four year, $16 Million extension with the Canes.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Gleason was high on the list of the Philadelphia Flyers as a replacement for the injured Chris Pronger, but that his resigning may now force GM Paul Holmgren to explore other possible options, like trying to acquire the Leafs Luke Schenn.
The rumors of discussions between the two clubs popped up earlier in the month and centered on young power forward James van Riemsdyk. The rumors died a quick death with the Flyers forward suffering a concussion two weeks ago, but the 22 year old has started practicing over the last few days.
Dreger indicated at that time that the Leafs would likely have to add another significant player to make this deal happen and mentioned the names Nazem Kadri and Nikolai Kulemin as possibilities.
In spite of being a former #2 pick overall and having moments of brilliance the last few years, it is still unclear how good JVR will be and to be fair, the same can be said for Schenn.
The dominoes will begin tumbling soon and the team that makes the first move will have the advantage of setting the market price for other teams interested in improving their club.
The first player expected to move is Carolina forward Tuomo Ruutu sometime this week.
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