The Toronto Maple Leafs look to sweep both ends of the home-and-home against the New York Islanders at Air Canada Center on Tuesday after a 3-1 win in Brooklyn on Sunday. Tyler Bozak and Michael Grabner scored a pair of goals 100 seconds apart early in the second period to give them all the offense they needed, as Toronto held the listless Isles to 26 shots on goalie Jonathan Bernier.
Bernier will get his fifth straight start on Tuesday and has righted himself after an 0-8-3 start, with three wins over Los Angeles, Colorado and New York. The Isles will go with Thomas Greiss, who will handle the majority of New York’s goaltending duties while starter Jaroslav Halak is on injured reserve.
James Reimer will backup Bernier and get the start in the second of back-to-back games in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Reimer has been out since re-aggravating a groin injury in a 1-0 loss to Minnesota on December 5.
New York will insert veteran defenseman Marek Zidlicky in place of Brian Strait, while Toronto will stay with the same lineup.
*******
One look at the standings should tell you that parity has come to the NHL. There are very few teams that can say with any certainty that they are out of the playoff race at the halfway mark of the season.
In the East, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are currently on the outside looking in, but are two-to-six points out of a wild-card or divisional playoff spot. In the West, the Central holds five of the eight post-season berths, Colorado is climbing back into the race and every team in the weak Pacific is within five points of the two divisional playoff spots.
What this means is that the number of teams that will be sellers leading up to the NHL Trade deadline may be limited to a few teams, one of them being the Toronto Maple Leafs. Winnipeg is likely to move one or both of Dustin Byfuglien or Andrew Ladd (depending on how contract negotiations go), Edmonton may move pending UFA’s Teddy Purcell and Nikita Nikitin, Phoenix could move veteran Shane Doan or UFA Mikkel Boedker and Calgary may shop UFA Jiri Hudler, but it all depends on where they are in the standings at the deadline.
Columbus is in the midst of a lost season, but has most of their underachieving core group signed long-term, which is not conducive to deadline dealing. Buffalo could move veteran David Legwand or Jamie McGinn to load up on draft picks.
The two teams that are virtual certainties to be selling are the Carolina Hurricanes and the Maple Leafs.
Eric Staal could be the most sought after player at the deadline for a contending team if they retain some of his $8.25 Million salary and veterans Cam Ward, Kris Versteeg, Nathan Gerbe and John-Michael Liles will be shopped as rentals, but the financially strapped Canes will likely not be willing to take salaried players back in trades.
The Leafs are nine points behind in the wild card race and will likely move many of their short-term contracts, including PA Parenteau, Shawn Matthias, Brad Boyes, Roman Polak, Michael Grabner, Nick Spaling and James Reimer for additional draft picks or prospects. Their financial might and willingness to take back salary could increase the return in trades for their rentals and even make deals for veterans Tyler Bozak, Joffrey Lupul or Dion Phaneuf possible.
The move of Nathan Horton’s $5.3 Million salary onto long term injured reserve gives the Leafs over $6 Million in cap space and the potential move of Stephane Robidas contract to LTIR could give the club another $3 Million in additional room.
The fewer teams that fall out of the playoff race and become sellers, the more it benefits the Leafs and increases GM Lou Lamoriello’s leverage in the trade market come February 29th.
*******
Expressen reports that Leafs top prospect William Nylander worked out on an exercise bike on Tuesday and felt no ill effects, which is another positive step towards the 19-year-old getting back on the ice for Sweden.
Nylander is expected to miss the Swede's last two preliminary round games against Denmark and Canada on Wednesday and Thursday.
*******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.