The Toronto Maple Leafs could make it six wins in a row at home as they take on the provincial rival Ottawa Senators at Air Canada Center on Saturday. This is the third meeting between the two Atlantic Division foes, with Toronto winning both previous Battles of Ontario by way of the shootout(5-4 in the home opener on October 5 and 4-3 in Kanata, ON on December 7).
Ottawa enter the game winners of two straight and have jumped back into playoff contention with a record of 7-2-3 in January. The Sens are one of four teams that trail Detroit by one point for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race and will go with veteran Craig Anderson in goal against Toronto.
Anderson has played back to top form since coach Paul Maclean gave backup Robin Lehner four starts in mid-December, going 8-1-3 since December 19.
Toronto will once again go with Jonathan Bernier, who has gone 7-4 in January and backstopped the Leafs to an automatic playoff spot and to within three points of second place Tampa Bay in their division.
Injuries have once again forced the Leafs to call for reinforcements, as winger Carter Ashton suffered a hand injury against Florida on Thursday and center Peter Holland has a severe lace bite from a new pair of skates. The ankle inflammation had Holland walking on crutches Saturday morning instead of practicing with the team.
Greg McKegg has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies and Frazer McLaren is eligible to come off of injured reserve, which could give the Leafs fourth line a decidedly different look.
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The trade of defenseman Mark Fraser to Edmonton on Friday could be the first of a number of roster moves made before the Olympic roster freeze.
“We’re in a situation where we need to create some cap space because of the guys coming off(Dave Bolland and Trevor Smith)." Leafs Assistant GM Claude Loiselle said following the trade. “Previously we had John-Michael Liles who gave us $925,000 of cap space when he went down and with Timmy Gleason playing up, we don’t have that luxury, so we had to make a move.…
With the potential of all their injured players returning in the next week, it is possible that the Leafs will have to demote as many as three players down to the American Hockey League to get under the $64.3 Million salary cap. They also want to make any moves before the break, since players left on the NHL roster would be earning their NHL salaries while not playing any games.
"We’ve got four guys on IR right now so we’re going to have to make some moves leading up to the Olympic Break.… Loiselle said. “Teams are going to try to get down to the lowest amount possible on their cap to create a little cushion through the Olympic break.…
Injured forward David Clarkson is close to returning from an elbow injury that required surgery and center Dave Bolland again participated in the morning skate at the ACC on Saturday. The Mimico, ON natives are both expected to travel with the team next week for a two game Florida road trip and could both see action before the last game before the 16 day hiatus for the 2014 Sochi games.
Ashton, Holland and Bodie can all be demoted without clearing waivers, which is the likely course for Leafs GM Dave Nonis. In spite of the diminishing contribution of enforcers Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren this season, both players are deemed to have value by Leafs coach Randy Carlyle and would be at risk to being claimed if exposed to waivers. Both Orr and McLaren are signed through the 2015-16 season for less than $1 Million and would be tempting claims for clubs looking to add toughness down the stretch.
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TSN Insider Darren Dreger reported on Friday that another move the Leafs may be looking to make is a trade of winger Nikolai Kulemin before the March 5th trade deadline.
The 27-year-old Russian is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and makes $2.8 Million, a steep salary for someone who has not reached double figures in goals since scoring 30 goals in the 2010-11 season. Kulemin is an excellent defensive forward/penalty killer and has started to score since being moved to right wing on a line with Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul.
Dreger indicates that the Leafs are not looking to simply dump Kulemin’s salary to make some room on the salary cap, but are looking for a significant return which would include a player and draft pick.
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