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The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their three-game Western road swing on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, coming off a rough outing in Calgary on Thursday that saw the Leafs six-game winning streak come to an end.
Forward Ondrej Kase skated with the club at practice on Friday after a hit from Flames defenseman Nikita Zadorov knocked him out of the 5-2 loss, but his availability on Saturday is still unknown. Wayne Simmonds is expected to rejoin the team on Saturday after the birth of his second child, but if Kase is unavailable, Toronto will likely go with 11 forwards and seven blueliners for the second game in a row.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated after practice that veteran Petr Mrazek will make the start after a poor performance from Jack Campbell against the Flames, and did not rule out Mrazek making another start against the Kraken in Seattle on Monday.
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The Leafs announced on Friday the signing of goalie Joseph Woll to a three-year, $2.3 million contract extension ($766,666 AAV). The 23-year-old went 3-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and .911 save percentage in four starts for the Leafs earlier this season and is 5-2-0, with a 3.32 GAA and a .911 save percentage in eight games with the AHL Toronto Marlies.
JOSEPH WOLL SNAPPED
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 27, 2021
JOSEPH WOLL IS A BAD MAN pic.twitter.com/vefzVbh3Yd
Woll, who suffered a knee injury against Hershey on January 15, was slated to be a restricted free agent this summer. The deal indicates that the Leafs see potential in the big netminder and the deal provides some cost certainty on the salary as a potential backup if the club cannot sign Campbell this off-season or has to trade Mrazek for cap reasons.
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Some interesting Leaf related notes from Elliotte Friedman’s ’32 Thoughts’ column this week. There has been some speculation that if GM Kyle Dubas were to try to make a deal for a defenseman with term remaining, that it might come at the cost of either Rasmus Sandin or Timothy Liljegren. Friedman believes that based on Sandin’s recent play, it would be hard to believe that Toronto would move him.
Liljegren has also played well with increased playing time, and is right-handed, so it may be just as unlikely that the 22-year-old Swede will be moved.
It is understandable that Toronto may be more willing to make a move for a blueliner with term remaining, since the price for rentals at this point is extremely high.
Friedman says that teams are current asking price is what the Columbus Blue Jackets received from Tampa Bay last season for David Savard; a first- and a third-round pick. That price could come down, since there are already eight teams likely selling in the Eastern Conference and other Western teams sorting things out as March 21 approaches.
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Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
Convo on Podcast.#theleafsconvo https://t.co/Xdn3CDLVCI
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