For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter With the days counting down to the annual Rookie Tournament and training camp, it is time to take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs competition in the Atlantic Division and see where they stand prior to the season. The Atlantic once again appears top heavy, with a trio of clubs that earned more than 100 points occupying the automatic playoff spots at the top of the division last season and five clubs that either will battle for a wild card spot or to stay away from the bottom of the standings, but there is always one team that no one expects and surprises. Two years ago, the Ottawa Senators were that unexpected team that was thought to be not a serious contender for a playoff spot but ended up one goal away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final. Last season was a disaster for the Leafs provincial rival on and off the ice, as they finished with the league’s second worst record (67 pts) while owner Eugene Melnyk alienated the Ottawa fan base with concerns about budgetary constraints and threats of moving the club. The off-season was not kind to the Sens, who got pennies on the dollar for Mike Hoffman from San Jose and then saw the winger traded back inside the division. Team captain Erik Karlsson rejected an eight-year contract extension from the club and the expectation is that the two-time Norris Trophy winner will be traded at some point during the final year of his contract.
Veteran goalie Craig Anderson expressed an interest in being dealt, leading scorer Mark Stone went to arbitration and got a one-year deal that will allow him to hit the open market next July, as will center Matt Duchene. A reason for optimism is a talented group of young prospects in Colin White, Logan Brown, Thomas Chabot and 2018 first rounder Brady Tkachuk who will push for NHL roster spots, but the distractions of Melnyk, getting a new building in downtown Ottawa moving forward, anticipation of Karlsson being dealt and concerns about getting Stone and Duchene locked up on new deals are likely to make the Sens everyone’s favorite sideshow in 2018-19.
With that the case, it is expected that Ottawa will not contend for a playoff spot, especially if they deal Karlsson before the season begins. *******
In a list of the NHL’s Top 50 Prospects, Toronto Marlies defenseman Timothy Liljegren was ranked 39th by NHL Network. The Leafs 2017 top pick was ranked behind fellow Swede Rasmus Dahlin (top pick of the Buffalo Sabres), Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars, Colorado’s Cale Makar, Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes, 2018 first rounders Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson and Adam Boqvist, Finns Juuso Valimaki (CGY), Olli Juolevi (VAN) and Erik Brannstrom of the Vegas Golden Knights. *******
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