In the 10 days since their last victory over Columbus, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen from being in the Eastern Conference playoff mix to a club residing in the hockey no man’s land of not being good enough to make the postseason and not being bad enough to position themselves for one of the top prospects in the 2015 NHL Draft.
The Maple Leafs nosedive started in Raleigh on December 18, when their season-long six-game winning streak was snapped in a 4-1 loss to the last place Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. The two clubs meet once again at Air Canada Center on Monday under different circumstances.
The Leafs have gone 3-12-0 since the clubs last met, while the Canes have stabilized with the return of forward Jordan Staal, who have an over .500 record(5-3-1) since he returned to the lineup in late December.
After a prolonged stretch facing some of the NHL’s best and hottest teams, Toronto finishes off the month of January with five games against teams below them in the standings, which may be an aid to getting Peter Horachek’s squad back in the win column.
Injured winger Leo Komarov took the morning skate, but Horachek indicated that the Leafs will not play the feisty winger against Carolina and allow his sore shoulder at least another couple days to heal. Stephane Robidas will also not be in the lineup, as the veteran defenseman re-aggravated an upper body injury during the recent road swing through California.
Jonathan Bernier and Anton Khoudobin is expected to be the goaltending matchup.
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Rumblings of impending change in Leaf Land continue to gain momentum as the losses pile up. There seems to be no one on the roster who would be considered untouchable, but sophomore defenseman Morgan Rielly is as close as anyone can get to being so.
Toronto’s fifth overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft appears on track to being a top pairing defenseman, something that other NHL clubs dearly covet, but it is highly doubtful that Toronto management would entertain moving the 20-year-old blueliner unless they were getting a young top line center or an extremely high draft pick to select a center.
Unless the Avalanche have suddenly become disenchanted with Nathan McKinnon or Edmonton/Buffalo have the urge to give up their golden ticket to the McDavid-Eichel sweepskates, it is unlikely that the Leafs will be moving Rielly any time soon.
Colorado center Ryan O'Reilly’s name continues to be connected to the Leafs, but the rumors of Tyler Bozak/Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner/Cody Franson for the 23-year-old seem to be more aimed at setting a price on the market for the Avalanche, who could lose O’Reilly as an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2015-16 season.
There is said to be interest in injured winger Joffrey Lupul from the Dallas Stars, who are in need a finisher to play with second line center Jason Spezza, but the question is whether the Leafs would simply be moving out the veteran forward to clear cap space or if they would have to take back a bad contract like Ales Hemsky.
The speculation of a Dion Phaneuf for Mike Richards deal could be plausible based on where the two franchises currently stand, but the uncertain status of the suspended Slava Voynov and the decline of Richards offensive number over the last three seasons makes it a risky proposition on both sides.
The more likely course of action if the Leafs intend to move Phaneuf or Phil Kessel is to wait until the summer, when cap ramifications are at a minimum and more suitors will drive up the potential return.
Toronto has Monday’s contest against Carolina and Wednesday’s match in Ottawa before hitting the pause button for the NHL All-Star Festivities in Columbus this weekend.
With time to consider and evaluate their options, it is quite possible that Leafs management team could start the renovation of their roster over the next week.
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