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The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to shake off a subpar performance against Calgary by some tweaking of their forward lines and special team units prior to the final game of a three-game homestand against the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
At their practice facility in Etobicoke on Wednesday, head coach Mike Babcock reunited Mitch Marner with John Tavares and Zach Hyman after moving him to another line in reaction to the loss of Auston Matthews on the weekend and shifted Kasperi Kapanen to the line with Zach Hyman and John Tavares.
“We are trying to find our way.… Babcock said. “We look like a real good team some nights, and then other nights were not as good. We have to find a way to do it right every day and (have) the internal accountability make each other to do it right every day. When you get on real good teams, as much fun as you have, sometimes those are grumpier team because you make each other accountable.…
The Leafs power play (which went 0 for 11 before breaking through with Kadri’s goal on Monday) also saw some changes as well, with Marleau replacing Tavares at the net front spot on the first unit, Tavares shifting to the left side previously occupied by Matthews and Hyman replacing Marleau in front of the net on the second unit.
Travis Dermott skated once again with extra defenseman Justin Holl, which is an indicator that he will sit his fourth straight game in favor of Martin Marincin on Thursday.
Bearanormal Activity.@CarltonTheBear served up some scares to get the Leafs in the #Halloween spirit.
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 31, 2018
Have a safe and happy Halloween! #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/Z7FF5cHrSk
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Are the Leafs open to dealing William Nylander? Not yet, says Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, but time may be approaching that Leafs GM Kyle Dubas begins to consider his options.
In this week’s ’31 Thoughts’ column, Friedman indicates that there has been no movement on the part of the Leafs or Nylander’s camp since Dubas met with the restricted free agent and his agent Lewis Gross earlier this month and that last week’s scouting trip to New York, Philadelphia, Minnesota and Raleigh raised eyebrows regarding the potential of trading the 22-year-old before the December 1 signing deadline.
The Flyers, Kings, Wild and Hurricanes are logical trading partners for Nylander, since they all have deep defensive corps and could use a speedy young scorer.
Carolina continues to be an intriguing possibility. Pierre LeBrun mentioned on TSN’s Insider Trading that the Canes are looking for a top six forward and have a young defenseman in Brett Pesce signed long term, but they would be one of a number of teams that would have interest if the Leafs give the go ahead to make offers.
Canes Assistant GM Rick Dudley has been at Scotiabank Arena three times in the last two weeks and Dubas did take in the Canes-San Jose game last week.
Our latest Leafs Convo podcast seriously seriously themed. Very serious. Perhaps even a bit scary. Listen to the full episode now. @MikeInBuffalo @TheLeafsConvo #TMLtalk #TheLeafsConvo https://t.co/5YtzmBbnPo
— Norman James (@NormanJamesTLC) November 1, 2018
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