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UPDATE - New York Rangers play-by-play guy Don LaGreca on ESPN's Michael Kay Show said that he believes that former Leaf Michael Grabner is being traded to Toronto. The 30-year-old winger scored 18 points for Toronto (9 goals, 9 assists) in 80 games in 2015-16 and was signed to a two-year deal by the Rangers at a $1.65 Million AAV in July 2016.
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock loved Grabner's defensive ability & speed, but Toronto had young wingers in Connor Brown, Mitch Marner, Connor Brown and Zach Hyman coming in the next season and Toronto needed to give their kids the ice time.
If the Leafs do deal for Grabner, it would likely be a move to fill a hole created by another deal.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs play the second of a three-game homestand against the New York Islanders on Thursday, hoping to extend their home winning streak at Air Canada Centre to eight games. The Leafs began their streak with a 5-0 win over the Islanders on January 31, who are battling Columbus and Carolina in a tight race for the final Eastern Conference wild card spot. The Islanders are only two goals behind Toronto in scoring with 203 goals (4th overall) this season, but the difference between the two clubs has been team defense and goaltending. The Leafs are in the middle-of-the-pack allowing 172 goals (12th overall) and have Vezina-level goaltending from Frederik Andersen since the beginning of November. In comparison, New York has surrendered a league-worst 219 goals against due to their wide-open offense led by John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Anders Lee and rookie Mathew Barzal, injuries to the blueline (Calvin DeHaan, Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield) and arguably the weakest goaltending tandem in the NHL in Thomas Greiss and Jaroslav Halak. Greiss is on injured reserve and Halak (the likely starter vs. Toronto) has an under .500 record (18-19-4) and a 3.22 GAA.
The inclusion of a William Nylander or Mitch Marner would be a complete non-starter for Toronto, especially with the likelihood that they will be letting James van Riemsdyk walk in free agency this summer. Another factor in this scenario could be the future status of current Leaf Jake Gardiner, who is well on his way to eclipsing his career-best 43 points this season and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2018-19 season. If Toronto extends McDonagh and has Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev locked up on long-term deals, there may not be enough room to re-sign Gardiner. *******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******