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The Toronto Maple Leafs complete their four-game homestand on Thursday against the Dallas Stars at Scotiabank Arena, facing a club off to a hot 3-0 start, playing excellent defensively under new coach Peter DeBoer and getting solid offensive production from Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and former Leaf Mason Marchment, who leads the club with three goals.
Coincidentally Denis Malgin, the player that the Leafs acquired in the deal with Florida in exchange for Marchment, will be a healthy scratch as Toronto is shaking up their lineup after a weak effort in a loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.
The Leafs held an optional gameday skate, which likely means that the lineup changes made at practice on Wednesday will remain for the club’s fifth game in nine days. Nick Robertson will take Malgin’s spot on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander, Victor Mete paired with veteran Mark Giordano, and Rasmus Sandin moved up to the top four alongside Justin Holl, and after being spelled by Erik Kallgren on Monday, Ilya Samsonov returns between the pipes for his third start of the season.
Early indications are that defenseman Jake Muzzin avoided serious injury after leaving early in the 4-2 loss to Arizona, but there is growing concern about the veteran blueliner’s durability after two long stints with a concussion last season and a cavalcade of injuries in the past. Timothy Liljegren is making progress recovering from hernia surgery and veteran Jordie Benn from a high-ankle sprain, but head coach Sheldon Keefe could not provide an update on when either would return.
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The Leafs may have dodged a bullet on Muzzin, but GM Kyle Dubas may have to be prepared to seek out defensive reinforcements if he gets hurt again. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos believes that the answer to Toronto’s prayers would be to acquire Jakob Chychrun from Arizona and that if a deal does not include Leafs top prospect Matthew Knies, that a potential trade could be built around a pair of first-round picks, as well as a young defenseman like Sandin, Liljegren or prospect Topi Niemelà¤, and a salary dump of Alex Kerfoot’s final year.
It would be hard to believe that Dubas would be able to pull off a deal with the Coyotes without giving up either Robertson or Knies and in spite of the Leafs reported interest, Dubas does not have the stockpile of assets that teams like Ottawa or St. Louis have to offer.
It is expected that Chychrun will return to the Arizona lineup in the next few weeks, and indications are that the 24-year-old wants to move on to another team, so a deal could happen in short order.
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