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The Toronto Maple Leafs embark on possibly the most difficult stretch of their season and one that could determine what GM Brad Treliving does before the trade deadline, as they take on Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in the first game of a four-game Western road trip.
The Leafs have lost three straight games in which they were leading, and are under .500 (5-6-2) since December 19, and are just one point out of falling out of a playoff spot. They will face the hottest team in the NHL in the Oilers (who have won 10 games in a row), who even with that streak are tied with the Seattle Kraken for the last wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
Toronto will face Calgary on Thursday, the first-place Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, and the Kraken in the second of back-to-back games on Sunday.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe, who shook up his forward lines prior to the loss to Detroit on Sunday, will do so again against the Oilers, shifting Mitch Marner back to the top line with Auston Matthews and Pontus Holmberg. William Nylander, who is pointless in the last three games, will move back to the second line with John Tavares and Matthew Knies. Tyler Bertuzzi will play on the third line with Max Domi and Calle Jarnkrok, with a fourth line of Bobby McMann, David Kampf, and Noah Gregor.
The defense pairings remain the same, and Martin Jones returns in net, with Stuart Skinner expected to be the starter for Edmonton.
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After the signing of William Nylander this week, it has become obvious that the Leafs will have to cut corners in other areas of the club with five players taking up more than $54 million in cap space.
That could take the form of signing multiple bargain free agents or veterans like Mark Giordano willing to take less to play in Toronto or to promote a number of younger players on entry-level deals to balance things out.
Looking at the defense, the players under contract are Morgan Rielly ($7.5 million), Jake McCabe ($2 million), and Conor Timmins ($1.1 million), with Timothy Liljegren and Simon Benoit restricted free agents eligible for arbitration and TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano are unrestricted free agents.
The general consensus is that for the Leafs to become a serious Stanley Cup contender, they have to add at least one and perhaps two blueliners in their top two pairings. Brodie is 33 and still a good compliment to Rielly, but based on his offensive production is overpriced at his current $5 million salary. If he was willing to take a haircut on a new deal, then it would be a good move. Giordano even past the age of 40 is still capable of playing bottom-pairing minutes and the Leafs need bargains like him taking a $800,000 salary.
Both Liljegren and Benoit can be brought back for around what their current salary is on a short-term deal, but the right-handed 2018 first-round pick would be more costly if Treliving decides to sign him for longer than two years, buying past when he is eligible for unrestricted free agency.
If Treliving can get Brodie to take 50% of his current salary and re-sign Liljegren, Benoit, and Giordano at close to what they make currently, they may have enough space to sign a free agent like Chris Tanev or Matt Dumba, but if they want to bring in more than one blueliner, they will have to find more money by subtracting somewhere else on the roster.
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