The Maple Leafs on the heels of their longest win streak of the season begin a four game road swing in the Valley of the Sun, as they take on the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, AZ on Monday.
Toronto won their fourth game in a row on Saturday with an exciting, emotional 5-3 victory over archrival Montreal and will have to continue playing with the same ferocity against the Coyotes, who are not the same stifling defensive team as in years past.
Phoenix has 55 points(the same amount as Toronto) and have struggled in January, losing six of the their first seven games. Only this week has Dave Tippett’s crew begun to bounce back, with home victories over Vancouver on Thursday and New Jersey on Saturday.
The Coyotes sit four points out of a wild card spot in the deeper and more talented Western Conference.
Toronto occupies the first wild card slot in the East, but will have to improve on their mediocre 8-10-4 record on the road to stay in playoff position.
The Leafs face a daunting schedule of back-to-back games against the Coyotes Monday and Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, in Dallas to take on the Stars on Thursday and finishing up with a Saturday night soiree against the Jets in Winnipeg.
Randy Carlyle will likely continue his practice of splitting the back-to-back games between goalies James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier and could go with Reimer on Monday, whose last standout performance was against the Coyotes in a 2-1 shootout win in Toronto on December 19.
No lineup changes are expected for the Leafs, as wingers David Clarkson and Frazer McLaren will not be eligible to come off injured reserve until Thursday.
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Dave Nonis has received his share of criticism for last summer’s signing of Clarkson to an overinflated free agent deal, but based on their performance in the first half of this season, the Leafs GM should be given credit for getting Nazem Kadri and Cody Franson signed to short term “bridge… contracts.
Both players were looking for a big payday coming off the best years of their careers and held off signing into September, but Leafs management did not cave in to the pressure and wanted more proof of whether each player was capable of maintaining the level of performance displayed in the lockout-shortened season.
Kadri posted 44 points in 48 games in the final year of his entry level deal and his representatives made overtures at wanting a five or six year deal on par with extensions given to Evander Kane or Matt Duchene, but compromised in accepting a two year, $5.8 Million deal in just before training camp.
Kadri has been unable to find the offensive success he enjoyed in spite of playing most of the season with quality line mates Joffrey Lupul and Mason Raymond. He failed miserably in two lengthy stints on the top line with Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk and has only one goal in his last 17 games.
Franson led Leafs defensemen with 29 points and played well in the playoff loss to Boston in 2013, bouncing back after a difficult first season with Ron Wilson behind the bench. Other NHL teams were locking up comparable defensemen like Roman Josi, Slava Voynov and Travis Hamonic to six or seven-year deals last summer, but Toronto was cautious to not make such a commitment after one solid season and signed the 26-year-old blueliner to a one-year, $2 Million deal just before the beginning of the regular season.
After 48 games, Franson leads the club in hits, his offensive numbers are down slightly (3G, 19A in 48 GP), but his defensive play has declined dramatically, as reflected in a club worst -12 plus/minus.
Kadri has another year left on his contract at a very affordable number, which could make him a very attractive commodity in a trade before the trade deadline or over the summer. Franson is an RFA, who at this point will not be able to make a great case for himself in salary arbitration.
Based on how things stand currently, it appears that the Leafs were justified in being cautious and skeptical and avoided two more overinflated contracts in the payroll.
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