The Toronto Maple Leafs ended a nightmarish January with a 1-0 loss to the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Wednesday, entering the All-Star break with nine losses in their last 10 games and tied with two other clubs at the bottom of the NHL standings.
Steven Stamkos scored his 21st goal of the season on the power play at 4:38 of the first period and that was enough for goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 30 Toronto shots for his first shutout of the season. Jonathan Bernier played well after backing up James Reimer the last four games, with 28 saves in the loss.
Toronto once again stumbled out of the gate, getting in penalty trouble and allowing Tampa to register the first 12 shots on goal (including Stamkos’ game winner) in a period in which they dominated 17-6.
“I thought (the penalties) unnerved us a little bit and then we were just battling, trying to stay alive.… Leafs coach Mike Babcock said following the game. “I actually thought we played pretty well from that point on. Their goalie made saves, our goalie made saves. We’ve talked about it quite a bit here of late but we didn’t feel we started as good as we should have.…
The slow starts have become a trend for Babcock’s squad. In the last five games, the Leafs have been outshot 50-2 in early going against Philadelphia, Carolina, Montreal, Florida and Tampa Bay, which could be a sign of the talent disparity that was apparent in October and the loss of leading scorer James van Riemsdyk to injury.
The media buzz regarding Stamkos, his potential free agency and the possibly heading to Toronto this summer did not have the same circus like atmosphere as it did in Toronto last month, when the Lightning and the Markham, ON native were struggling.
Tampa has won eight of their last 10 games and are firmly entrenched in the playoff mix, which decreases the likelihood of Stamkos waiving his no movement clause to go to another team before the trade deadline, but the reported initial offer of $8.5 Million per season tabled by GM Steve Yzerman recently may have a chilling effect on negotiations between the Lightning and Newport Sports, especially when the opportunity to see what offers Stamkos can get on the open market is only a few months away.
The @Sportsnet crew predict where Stamkos will be next year; Montreal, Detroit & Tampa. Are they all wrong? #Leafs
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) January 28, 2016*******
The Leafs performance since the loss of van Riemsdyk has eliminated any illusions of competing for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. After a 1-7-2 start in October, Toronto bounced back and played over .500 hockey in November and December (13-8-5), but going 3-7-2 record in January has now shifted the focus to the process of moving players under short term contracts to contending teams for future assets.
GM Lou Lamoriello has reportedly put out feelers to other NHL teams regarding rentals P-A Parenteau, Roman Polak, Shawn Matthias, Michael Grabner, Nick Spaling, Brad Boyes and possibly goalie James Reimer, as well as players with term left in Daniel Winnik and Jonathan Bernier, but the expectation is that most of those moves will take place in the days leading up to February 29th.
At this point, Toronto, Columbus, Edmonton, Buffalo and perhaps the Winnipeg Jets are the only teams who could be categorized as sellers, which may not be the case closer to the deadline as teams fall out of playoff contention. Being an early seller has the advantage of setting the market and not having to react to the prices being paid in other deals.
It could be argued that former GM Dave Nonis would have never been able to get a first round pick from Nashville for Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli closer to the deadline, after Andrej Sekera, Keith Yandle, Braydon Coburn and Antoine Vermette had been moved for first rounders.
Players like Matthias, Spaling, Grabner and Boyes can be held onto until the last minute, when interest from more than one team or the willingness to take back a salary could increase the return, but the price for Parenteau (making $1.5 Million) or Polak (a prototypical experienced bottom-pairing defenseman) is not likely to change much.
Lamoriello takes the risk -- especially with a shot blocker like Polak – of an injury costing his club a chance at getting a significant draft pick and that is why the Leafs should begin to make deals when the break is over with.
*******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.*******
Note : Continue to check back to my column on Hockeybuzz throughout the day for the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.