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The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to extend their success at home against the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. The effectively bounced back from a road loss to Montreal with a 5-2 win over the Islanders on Monday, their fifth win in a row on home ice.
Toronto lost 3-1 to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in mid-December, a game in which Mitch Marner’s 23-game scoring streak ended and the club struggled to generate scoring chances, and when they did, were stymied by Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin.
The Leafs are expected to make only one lineup change from the group that skated on Monday, as callup Joey Anderson will step in for vet Zach Aston-Reese on the fourth line and Ilya Samsonov will make his fourth straight start, hoping to extend his home unbeaten streak to 15.
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With slightly over a month until the NHL trade deadline, the amount of cap space each contender has will be a major factor in what general managers will be able to do. The Leafs currently have $1.1 million in available cap space, even with the injured Jake Muzzin, Nick Robertson, and Victor Mete on LTIR.
GM Kyle Dubas and capologist Brandon Pridham will be able to massage that amount by waiving and/or sending players down to the minors. Currently, the Leafs are at the max 23 players on their roster, but before the deadline, they could open up another $900,000 by demoting Wayne Simmonds and more by sending down Anderson, Bobby McMann, and/or Jordie Benn.
The most that Toronto could open up is about $3 million, which would be enough to fit a forward or defenseman that reportedly the Leafs are looking to add (not factoring in retained salary), but not enough to make both. If adding one of each is Dubas’ goal, then it is likely that Toronto will have to clear out a significant salary currently on the roster to make things fit.
Based on their salaries and role as third liners, Pierre Engvall ($2.25 million) and Alex Kerfoot ($3.5 million) would appear to be the likeliest to be sent elsewhere, but those odds are mitigated by what type of impact player the Leafs are looking to bring in. If Dubas is making a move to acquire a Timo Meier, then that would mean Calle Jarnkrok would move down to take Kerfoot/Engvall’s third-line role and Meier would slot in with John Tavares and Mitch Marner.
If it is a player of less stature, then you would have to believe that the Leafs would opt to keep Kerfoot or Engvall based on their familiarity and versatility.
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TSN’s Chris Johnston reported that Toronto is interested in extending defenseman Conor Timmins. The 24-year-old is in the final year of a two-year bridge deal at $850,000 AAV and has enjoyed health and success on the ice for the first time, with 12 points (1 goal, 11 assists) in 17 games.
With another year before qualifying for salary arbitration, and three years before unrestricted free agency, the Leafs will likely try to get Timmins on a two-year deal similar to Timothy Liljegren and Ramsus Sandin ($1.4 million AAV), and as a right-hand shot, Timmins would be able to slot in as a replacement for Justin Holl if he leaves via free agency this summer.
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