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The Toronto Maple Leafs face a summer of transition with a new general manager entering the picture, decisions to be made on which free agents to bring back and getting their young core group signed to contract extensions.
One of the main concerns after the first round loss to Boston were reports of friction between Auston Matthews and head coach Mike Babcock. Both parties denied any major impasse with the other at locker room cleanout last month, but according to Sportsnet’s
Nick Kypreos, Babcock has travelled to Arizona to meet with the 20-year-old center to air out any misunderstandings and fix things.
The dispute reportedly has to do mostly with ice time. Matthews led all Toronto forwards averaging over 18 minutes during the regular season and with 17:32 during the first round series against Boston, but was not relied on anywhere close to what the Bruins did with top liners Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak and was not double shifted.
Regarding the search for the club’s replacement for Lou Lamoriello, Kypreos reports that league executives believe that Asst. GM Mark Hunter is more qualified and has a better resume to become the Leafs next general manager, and that if Brendan Shanahan hires Kyle Dubas, that they will lose Hunter to another NHL team, but that is also the case if Toronto hires Hunter as their new GM.
Dubas was prevented from accepting the GM position in Colorado last summer, and if the Leafs hire Hunter or an outside candidate, it is a foregone conclusion that the 31-year-old will be looking for opportunity elsewhere.
Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that Hunter and Shanahan met this weekend to discuss the situation, but a final decision on who will be heading up Leafs management is not expected anytime soon.
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The Toronto Marlies held serve in their best-of-seven series with the Syracuse Crunch, taking Game 2 of the Calder Cup North Division Final with a 2-1 victory at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday. Frederik Gauthier scored the game winner for Toronto at 15:10 of double overtime and Garret Sparks made 45 saves for his fourth postseason win.
Matthew Peca scored to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead in the second period, but Toronto rallied in the third and finally broke through on Syracuse rookie goaltender Connor Ingram, as Mason Marchment scored on a quick wrist shot to tie the game.
Ingram made 55 saves in the contest and held off Toronto, who outshot Syracuse in the second, third and first overtime periods, but Garret Sparks was equally sharp on the night, with 45 stops and kept the Crunch off the board in the first and second overtime, where he faced a dozen shots before Gauthier’s game-winner.
“(Our) guys know how competitive and how tight this series is,” Keefe said. “We’ve taken care of home ice here, but the greatest challenge in the series is winning one on the road.”
Toronto will not have much time to enjoy their victory, as they take on the Crunch in Game 3 at Onondaga War Memorial Arena on Sunday night. The Marlies lost four times to Syracuse on the road in their second round loss last May and the home team has won in the 10 postseason contests between the two clubs.
Both squads may make lineup changes based on fatigue from a long game on Saturday, but Syracuse will have at least two fresh players in the lineup. Veteran Gabriel Dumont left the game in the first period of Game 2 after missing Game 1 with an unspecified injury and Mat Bodie (the Crunch’s leading defensive scorer) was suspended by the AHL for a low hit on Marchment in the third period.
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