For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter The Toronto Maple Leafs made a tinkering move at the NHL Trade Deadline with the trade for center Tomas Plekanec from Montreal, but were unable to acquire that long elusive top four defenseman. The club’s roster is now set for what appears to be a nearly certain matchup with the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next month. Many believe that the road from NHL bottom dweller to making the playoffs was less troublesome than the path that lies ahead for the Leafs, which is to make the right moves to get from a competitive club to a Stanley Cup contender. It is once again time to go to the world of Twitter and the comments on my column on Hockeybuzz for your Leafs questions:
Question about the Leaf's current win streak record at home. How many wins would have been merely "ties", before the NHL brought in regular season OT? Do you think that means an asterisk?
— Dave Moore (@doktordave) March 11, 2018
Are we destined to land a top D-man this summer?
— Carlisle G (@Leaf4Ever) March 11, 2018
How in the world is THIS goalie interference???? In this @isEyoo video Dumoulin is focused and hard on the puck when Hainsey pushes him into the goalie. I give upðŸ¤·ðŸ½…â™‚ï¸ and to rub salt in the wound the @MapleLeafs go down and score right after pic.twitter.com/IAV3jmOsBs
— Anson Carter (@AnsonCarterLA) March 11, 2018
Has Polak’s play lately trending towards the form we saw last year vs Caps before his untimely injury and is it possible doing nothing on the back end and promoting from within the best move of the deadline? Dermott has been so strong and deserved.
— 🏒ðŸ¹FletchðŸ¹🥅 (@hawkeyguy) March 11, 2018
A - Roman Polak has performed much better in the second half after a rough start, which was understandable after coming back from a broken leg in the first round loss to Washington. Polak is never going to be mistaken for Paul Coffey, but the necessity of his toughness was apparent in Saturday's win over Pittsburgh, when he came to the defense of William Nylander after Evgeni Malkin slammed him into the boards.
Not only did Polak respond with a shot to Malkin's back, he drew the Pens center into a retaliatory penalty.
Polak standing up for Nylander. He takes Malkin with him to the penalty box. pic.twitter.com/lzsS9TZpmx
— Flintor (@TheFlintor) March 11, 2018
Promoting from within will be necessary for the Leafs going forward, since having young players like Dermott and eventually Timothy Liljegren on entry-level deals will enable them to spend significant cap dollars in other areas, but it is not likely that Toronto will make a deep playoff run without making upgrades to their current blueline corps.
If the Marlies happen to get knocked out early, is there better options then Carrick? Ie Holl, Liljegren, Borgman (I know LHD)
— Wendel Mania (@Wendel_Mania) March 11, 2018
A - No. Carrick is likely the seventh defenseman at playoff time. I'm fairly sure that Babcock will opt for Polak playing with Dermott on the bottom pairing. If an injury occurs, Borgman would be the logical recall, since he had more than a half season in the NHL.....but the flaw in your argument is the Marlies making an early exit. That is not likely to happen.
It seems obvious to rest Anderson down the stretch. The leafs are locked in 3rd and it will help to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Any reason they won’t rest him and if not is it a risk?
— David Arulpooranam (@darulpooranam) March 11, 2018
Perhaps that will convince the Leafs head coach to give McElhinney an extra start or two before the end of the season, but I would not hold my breath.
Mike can the leafs still trade jvr after the cup has been won up until July 1st?
— PDT (@DiTrani10) March 11, 2018
A - Toronto can trade van Riemsdyk's negotiating rights after the season to a team that wants an early opportunity to talk to him, but the chance for getting anything significant for the pending free agent has past.
Clubs have a five-day window to speak to perspective free agents before July 1, so any deal for van Riemsdyk's rights would likely take place on the draft floor in Dallas, but unless a team is convinced they need an extra day or two to talk with him, they will simply wait until the window.
Any chance in signing Joe Thornton this summer to replace Bozak?
— frank massara (@CaFmass21) March 11, 2018
A - There is a chance that the future Hall-of-Famer could be the Leafs answer to replace Tyler Bozak, but a lot of things would have to happen to make that possible. Thornton talked to Toronto last summer before re-signing for one year in San Jose, which means he was at least open to the possibility of leaving Northern California to play with Patrick Marleau.
Thornton has missed a significant chunk of this season with a knee injury and will be 39 in July. The Leafs would likely be interested if they could get him signed for one year at a low base salary with bonus incentives, because a longer deal could come back to bite them with the salary on a 35+ contract counting against the cap (unless there is space available on Robidas Island).
Do you think the leafs will replace Komarov with Andreas Johnsson
— LeafsNation (@Leafsfan3431) March 12, 2018
A - Johnsson is one of a few possible candidates to replace van Riemsdyk on the left side. The 24-year-old has a completely different skill set, but 25 goals with the Toronto Marlies this season is a good sign that the speedy Swede is ready for the NHL.
The likely replacement for Komarov is Kasperi Kapanen (who already is an excellent penalty killer), but of the three big UFA's, Komarov has the best chance of coming back on a one-year deal simply because Babcock trusts him so much.
Are the Leafs going to continue to play brinksmanship with the number of pro contracts or will there be a freeing up of space this summer? How do they do it?
— Mark Pinsent (@MarbleBallz) March 12, 2018
A - The Leafs are at 29 pro contracts for 2018-19, with most of the six UFA's currently on their NHL roster (van Riemsdyk, Bozak, Komarov, Polak, Tomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore) likely not re-signing and Joffrey Lupul's deal expiring.
Restricted free agents (such as William Nylander and Connor Carrick) do not count towards the 29, but will when they are re-signed, as will other RFA's like Johnsson, Calvin Pickard and Frederik Gauthier when they agree to new deals. Best guess, the Leafs will be in the low-to-mid 40's on pro deals when training camp rolls around next September.
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