For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter The Toronto Marlies will play for a Calder Cup title for the first time in six years, as they completed a sweep of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final on Friday. Andreas Johnsson second goal of the game early in the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and Trevor Moore scored into the empty net for Toronto, who have won nine straight playoff games and will play the winner of the Rockford - Texas series beginning next Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum.
That feeling when you're headed to the #CalderCup Finals.#MarliesLive #ThisIsMore pic.twitter.com/Zo9Cq0Ojap
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 26, 2018
A quick spin, a quick deke and a quick finish from Andreas Johnsson.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/qebZIHcRIC
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 26, 2018
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The justifications of the Leafs dealing Phil Kessel in July 2015 were fairly straight forward. The club had set their mind on the path of the rebuild and Kessel’s scoring talent would prevent Toronto from finishing as low in the standings as possible. Or to say it another way, keeping Kessel would lower the odds of winning the lottery and selecting Auston Matthews. Aonther consideration was that the 27-year-old was entering year two of an eight-year, $64 Million contract extension; a contract too pricey for the high-end complementary player that Kessel had turned out to be, which forced the Leafs to retain 15% of the winger’s salary to enable them to get a good return from the Penguins. The deal (mostly engineered by then Asst. GM Kyle Dubas) has turned out to be very beneficial for both teams. After trying to get Matt Murray (who played for Dubas with the Soo Greyhounds) and Brian Dumoulin in the swap, the Leafs received Scott Harrington, Kasperi Kapanen, Nick Spaling, the Pens 2016 first and third round pick. Spaling was sent to San Jose along with Roman Polak for a pair of second round picks at the deadline in 2016, Kapanen has developed into a capable speedy winger who will play in the NHL next season and the first round pick was dealt to Anaheim for goalie Frederik Andersen. Pittsburgh took advantage of their window with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in their prime and satisfied their need for a scoring winger to provide secondary offense. Kessel provided that with 45 points during their two Cup runs, but now rumors out of Pittsburgh indicate the Pens are looking to trade the former Leaf. This is not surprising, since another area of concern about Kessel was his ability to maintain a high level of performance in the second half of the contract with his reputation for not being a devotee to physical fitness. Coming off a career-high 92 points last season and turning 31 in October, Pens GM Jim Rutherford may have come to the same decision the Leafs made three years ago. *******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.*******