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*******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. ******* The Toronto Maple Leafs begin a mini two-game homestand against the Colorado Avalanche at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday before finishing up January with five of the next six games on the road in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. The Leafs will need to continue playing better defensively against two of the best offenses in the NHL in the Avs (155 – 2nd in the NHL) and the Wings (146 – 4th in the NHL), leading into the road trip against the high-powered Canucks, Connor McDavid, and the Oilers, the red-hot Kraken, and the league-leading Jets.
Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated on Saturday that Martin Jones will make his seventh straight game against Colorado (who have won eight of their last ten games), but that he will not start in back-to-back games as he did last week in Southern California. Keefe did not confirm whether Ilya Samsonov will make his first start since allowing six against Columbus or whether rookie Dennis Hildeby will be recalled from the AHL and make his first NHL start.
Hildeby, who was named an AHL All-Star this week, made 20 saves for the Toronto Marlies in an 8-0 shutout win over Belleville on Friday.
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After the signing of William Nylander this week, it has become obvious that the Leafs will have to cut corners in other areas of the club with five players taking up more than $54 million in cap space.
That could take the form of signing multiple bargain free agents or veterans like Mark Giordano willing to take less to play in Toronto or to promote a number of younger players on entry-level deals to balance things out.
Looking at the goaltending, Toronto has the advantage of having Joseph Woll on the final year of a three-year deal making less than $800,000. The Leafs also are not tied down by another significant salary between the pipes, as both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov are free agents. Toronto will have to find another option as a tandem partner for Woll, which could be Martin Jones if the veteran agrees to a one-year deal for low money.
Hildeby is on the final year of his entry-level contract and makes $843,333, but that would give the Leafs one of the youngest and most inexperienced pairings in the NHL.
If not Jones or Hildeby, then bringing in a veteran free agent is the likeliest option, but because of the allocation of dollars in other areas, the Leafs will likely be limited to a salary of less than $2 million.
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