The Maple Leafs as expected have added some insurance to their blueline by extending tryout invitations to defensemen Henrik Tallinder and Brendan Mikkelson.
The 35-year-old Tallinder is a 12-year NHL veteran who has played his entire career in the Eastern Conference, with three seasons in New Jersey and nine seasons with the Atlantic Division rival Buffalo Sabres.
The native of Stockholm, Sweden played 64 games with Buffalo in 2013-14, with two goals, six assists and 34 penalty minutes. Tallinder averaged close to 19 minutes per game as a stay-at-home defenseman and was -21 for the 30th place Sabres.
The 27-year-old Mikkelson played last season with the Penguins AHL affiliate in Wilkes Barre/Scranton(38 points in 73 games) and has made NHL stops in Calgary, Tampa Bay and played 67 games from 2008-2011 in Anaheim under Randy Carlyle.
While Mikkelson may be an invite more targeted towards the AHL Toronto Marlies, Tallinder's presence may suit the dual purpose of insurance against a delay in the return of Stephane Robidas recovery from a leg injury and as a preferable option as a seventh defenseman.
If Tallinder proves he is can still play a defensive role on a bottom pairing and is willing to take a one-year deal at under $1 Million, it would allow the club to keep the developing Petter Granberg, Matt Finn and Stuart Percy with the Toronto Marlies.
*******
While there is a lot of time between now and the NHL Trade Deadline to determine whether players will be a part of the Maple Leafs for the long term, there is a growing expectation that defenseman Cody Franson will be playing somewhere other than Toronto next season and may be a prime candidate to be moved during the season.
Franson waited till the eleventh hour to sign a one-year deal before his breakout season in 2013, held out till the final week of training camp last season and settled for $3.3 Million with the Leafs this summer just prior to his arbitration hearing in July.
According to the Hockey News , the 27-year-old pending unrestricted free agent is in a prime position to get a big-money deal on the open market next July due to his size, and offensive skills (especially on the power play).
The Leafs have never shown any great interest in getting Franson locked up on a long-term deal (unless it was to their financial benefit) and with team captain Dion Phaneuf and Jake Gardiner signed long term, young Morgan Rielly entering his second season, veterans Roman Polak and Stephane Robidas added to the fold and youngsters Matt Finn, Petter Granberg and Stuart Percy in the pipeline, trading the right handed shooting blueliner is highly probable.
Factors would include the ability of the Leafs to exact a high price for the rare commodity of an available power-play point man down the stretch, the club’s status in the Eastern Conference playoff race and the progress of the young defenders.
If the Leafs are not in realistic range of a playoff berth, than trading Franson and other veteran free agents like Mike Santorelli, David Booth and Daniel Winnik would be a foregone conclusion. If the club is in the mix, then the ability of Granberg or Finn to step up to the NHL will determine whether Toronto can afford to deal the blueliner or not.
Another factor in the options that Leafs GM Dave Nonis and head coach Randy Carlyle have is the maturation of 20-year-old Morgan Rielly.
The former fifth overall pick had a successful rookie campaign with 27 points(two goals and 25 assists) in 73 games and began to feel more comfortable at both ends of the ice after some defensive mishaps early on, but he will have to improve his overall game to take handle greater responsibilities in his sophomore season.
“You can’t be too worried about one or two areas, you just have to be better all around. I want to be better defensively. I want to be better. I want to have more confidence,… Rielly said to the Kevin McGran. “Try to get to pucks quicker, try to keep guys to the outside, try to limit scoring chances against.…
The young blueliner is fully prepared for Carlyle to step up the critique of his game, but spoke with the veteran bench boss and understands his method of coaching.
“I’ve had that conversation with him already. That’s how he is as a person to begin with.… Rielly said. “I don’t take it personally if he gets angry at me, if that’s the word you want to use. But I try to use it to get better because I know he’s trying to get me to be a better player. I’m ready for it.…
“With a young player like Morgan, if he comes back and accomplishes statistics-wise what he did this year in his first year, it would be a good year,… Carlyle said at the club’s charity golf event on Monday. “We’ve all heard about the sophomore jinx, how players coming back in second year seem to struggle a little bit. Our sense as a coaching staff and management is that we have a mature young player. His assets and the things he does well are the strengths we need him to play to. That’s the way the game is trending. He’s a skating, puck-handling defenseman and we want him to play to his strengths.…
*******
The NHL handed down a number of rule changes Thursday, including widening of the goalie’s trapezoid, elimination of the spin-o-rama on penalty shots/shootouts(Mikhail Grabovski is sobbing over that one), redefining video review, changes in the face-off circles and hash marks and procedural changes for overtime and shootouts.
One change that could be costly for certain players and coaches is supplementary discipline penalties for diving and embellishment. The first diving call will result in a player warning, after which fines from $2000 to $5000 will be assessed.
Coaches also will be subject to fines as well, if the player is penalized four or more times, the coach will receive a penalty from $2000 to $5000.
The Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens and Nazem Kadri should order a new set of checks for the upcoming season.
*******
The annual Tribute in Light one night before the 13th anniversary of 9/11. #newyork #newyorkcity @nyc @newyork #1wtc pic.twitter.com/sexUAAluN5
— Gary Hershorn (@GaryHershorn) September 11, 2014*******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.*******
For Those on Twitter: Follow @mikeinbuffalo
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.