For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter The Toronto Maple Leafs get back into action after their long NHL All-Star break and bye week against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Friday with newest addition Jake Muzzin making his debut in Blue and White. The big blueliner skated on the left side with new defense partner Morgan Rielly for the morning skate on Friday, but was not part of the second power play unit as he was at practice on Thursday. Both defenseman Jake Gardiner (back spasms) and winger Andreas Johnsson (concussion) will get back into the lineup after missing time before the break. Leafs head coach Mike Babcock kept the same line combinations (other than Johnsson replacing Trevor Moore on the fourth line with Par Lindholm and Frederik Gauthier) that were together in the 6-3 victory over Washington on January 23rd. Auston Matthews skated between Patrick Marleau and Mitch Marner, John Tavares lined up between Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen and Nazem Kadri centered Connor Brown and William Nylander. Frederik Andersen gets the start for Toronto and Jimmy Howard will be between the pipes for the Wings. The Leafs begin a stretch of four games in six nights and it is expected that backup Garret Sparks will get the start against Pittsburgh on Saturday, with Andersen likely going against Anaheim and Ottawa on Monday and Wednesday. *******
TSN’s Darren Dreger stirred up a hornets nest on Thursday with a report that NHL general managers are preparing an offer sheet for Leafs winger Mitch Marner should he reach July 1 as an unsigned restricted free agent. Marner’s agent Darren Ferris has indicated that he does not want to negotiate a new deal for the 21-year-old winger until after the season, which may mean that they want to wait until Auston Matthews agrees to a new deal and they can use it as a price point for their contract negotiations.
"(I) definitely not (could imagine an offer sheet scenario), that’s why we’re trying to figure all this stuff now." Marner said to TSN's Mark Masters. "For me personally, I'm just trying to stay out of (the negotiations), let Kyle and my agent talk." The fact that about opposing general managers are planning offer sheets for Marner is about as surprising as a January snowstorm in Toronto or Buffalo. Of course, they are hoping that one of the league’s best forwards could possibly be available this summer, but all of their planning and crossing fingers and toes are meaningless unless Marner’s camp believes they are not receiving what they deem to be fair offers from Leafs GM Kyle Dubas. Matthews deal is rumored to be in the $11 to 12 Million range for five or six years, and Marner could be in line to be paid as much as Alex Ovechkin ($9.53 Million), Jamie Benn or Nikita Kucherov ($9.5 Million) on a similar term, but Ferris might get some pushback if he is looking for an amount close to or above Patrick Kane’s $10.5 Million AAV for his client. Dubas has reiterated that he will match any offer sheet extended to either Matthews or Marner and the Leafs have the flexibility to go over the salary cap by 10% in the summer if necessary, so they are not in danger of losing either even if an offer sheet is signed.
Teams within the Atlantic Division might have aims of putting Toronto in a cap predicament by making a big money offer, but if Dubas assertion is not a bluff, all an offer sheet would do is give the Leafs less room to surround Matthews, Tavares and Marner with players that will help them be a Stanley Cup contender for most or all of the term of their new deals. Every year the scare tactic of an offer sheet is floated and does not come to pass. The last one was six years ago to a disgruntled Ryan O’Reilly and it was quickly matched by Colorado. Toronto management may have to give Marner more than they would prefer and if that happens, that could force them to make a move to create cap space, but things would have to go very, very wrong over the next five months and in the end, the Leafs would still have one of their franchise cornerstones in the fold. *******
On Dubas, Muzzin, Nylander, possible deals ahead and more...
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