The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their recent offensive uptick with a 7-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Monday.
Tyler Bozak scored a hat trick, Leo Komarov had two goals, Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk added singles for Toronto, who registered a season-high seven goals and have 20 goals in their last 4 games (2-0-2).
Toronto tallied three times on the power play in the opening 40 minutes and the contest was tied entering the third, before the Bozak, van Riemsdyk and PA Parenteau came alive and scored four third period goals for the victory.
Bozak continues to make those who believed that he was a complementary player to Phil Kessel or not as good as Nazem Kadri look foolish, as the center has more points(22) than his former linemate and seven more than Kadri in spite of averaging a minute less in ice time.
14 goals, making less than $3M, two more years, starting to wonder what teams would offer if the #Leafs shopped Leo Komarov?
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) December 22, 2015If the 29-year-old continues to perform at this level, there could be significant trade interest prior to the February 29th deadline in spite of a $4.2 Million salary and two years remaining on his contract.
The most surprising aspect of the Maple Leafs season thus far has been the scoring totals being put up by Komarov. His best offensive season was 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in the KHL two seasons ago with Moscow Dynamo.
In 104 NHL games, Komarov scored 12 goals playing mostly as a depth forward, but the Estonian-born winger is thriving in a top-six role this season, with a club-leading 15 goals and 24 points in 32 games.
The fact that the soon-to-be 29-year-old is having a career year, is under contract for another two seasons(at a reasonable $2.95 Million) and plays a rugged style of game presents a dilemma for the rebuilding Leafs and GM Lou Lamoriello.
The Toronto blueprint has them reaching a competitive level in two-to-three seasons, when Mitch Marner, William Nylander and whoever the Leafs choose in the first round in 2016 have some NHL experience.
With the year that the feisty winger is having, his salary being low enough for contending teams to fit him under the salary cap and with years left on his deal, Komarov’s trade value will never be any higher and for that reason alone, Lamoriello has to see what teams would be willing to offer.
One team that might come calling is the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals. The Caps were rumored to be interested in signing Komarov (who was teammates with Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom during the lockout) in the summer of 2014 as a free agent coming back from the KHL, but instead the winger signed a four-year, $11.8 Million deal to come back to Toronto.
Washington has a strong top-six and top-four on defense, but might be in need of effective depth players to get past New York or Montreal to reach the Cup Final. They could be willing to trade as much as their late first round pick for an effective role player like Komarov.
As much as Komarov is a fan favorite and the type of player that many clubs search years to find, his talents are being wasted on a team years away from being good enough to make the playoffs and contend, whereas the draft picks or prospects acquired in a trade could be another piece in the puzzle to making the Leafs of the future a more complete team.
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Toronto will play their final game prior to the Christmas break against the Arizona Coyotes at the Gila River Arena on Tuesday.
Jonathan Bernier will make his third straight start and go on back-to-back nights for the first time since October 30th-31st.
Defenseman Matt Hunwick will not play due to the flu and Frank Corrado will take his place playing with Morgan Rielly.
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