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Leafs prepared for long impasse with Nylander - Game 3 vs. Sabres

September 21, 2018, 3:28 PM ET [599 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be in action at the renamed Scotiabank Arena for the first time, as they face the Buffalo Sabres in the first of a home-and-home match against their Atlantic Division rivals.

The Leafs will use primarily the same lineup they started in Lucan, ON on Tuesday, with Curtis McElhinney and Garret Sparks splitting goaltending duties, the top defensive pairing of Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainey and the top two lines of John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman, and Nazem Kadri, Josh Leivo and Connor Brown, but will sub in 18-year-old Semyon Der-Argushintsev at center between veteran Chris Mueller and Dmytro Timashov, the rookie pairing of Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren (who played in Ottawa on Wednesday) and Martin Marincin replacing the injured Travis Dermott alongside Connor Carrick.

The two clubs will meet in Buffalo at Key Bank Center on Saturday, where the lineup will likely be the other half of the split squad that includes Auston Matthews, Patrick Marleau and former Sabre Tyler Ennis.




Babcock liked what he saw from the pair of Swedish first round blueliners in the 4-1 victory over Ottawa on Wednesday and indicated on Thursday that one of the benefit of being a good team is that young players get plenty of time to develop and do not get rushed.

Liljegren was one of the youngest players in the American Hockey League last season and won a Calder Cup at 19 years old, while the 18-year-old Sandin posted 45 points in his rookie season with the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, but the Leafs head coach said that it is simply too soon for either to be in the mix for a spot on the NHL roster.

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On the “31 Thoughts” podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned the ongoing William Nylander contract negotiations and indicated that the Maple Leafs are prepared for the stalemate between them and the restricted free agent to go into the season, based on agent Lewis Gross’s history of holding players out longer than other representatives and the winger’s father Michael being part of the process.

The Leafs are in a strong position to weather an extended impasse, with quality depth on the wings where Brown, Kasperi Kapanen or veteran Tyler Ennis can move up in the lineup on a temporary basis.

Although GM Kyle Dubas wants to get Nylander signed, sealed and delivered as soon as possible, it is more important to get him signed for a team friendly amount and not capitulate to the winger’s demand of a salary close to or above $8 Million per season, because it will set a precedent for the upcoming contract talks for Marner and Matthews and it would show that Dubas caved.

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