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Dermott still ill; Preparing for Gardiner’s exit??

October 26, 2018, 4:57 PM ET [150 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs practiced at the MasterCard Centre in Etobicoke, ON on Friday in preparation for their second straight meeting with the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, and while veteran Ron Hainsey was on the ice, sophomore Travis Dermott was still unavailable.

Hainsey left the ice with just over 12 minutes left in the third period of the 4-2 victory in Winnipeg on Wednesday, forcing the Leafs to play with five defensemen. Dermott was unavailable for the morning skate prior to the game due to illness and the 21-year-old still did not feel well enough on Friday to join his teammates.



“(Hainsey) was in the lineup for most of the game, but we didn’t have him at the end.” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. “(Dermott) is sick. I don’t know how many days he’s taken, but he couldn’t practice today, so obviously he’s going to be out awhile longer.”

With Dermott likely unavailable for Saturday’s rematch, the Leafs will continue with Martin Marincin on the bottom pairing with rookie Igor Ozhiganov, but that likely means that the workload will be significantly greater for Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev, who all played more than 23 minutes against the Jets.

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The recent signing of Nate Schmidt by Vegas to a six-year, $35. 7 Million contract extension is dwindling down the 2019 free agent defensive class to a precious few. If Erik Karlsson decides to re-sign in San Jose instead of testing the market next July, teams looking for puck rushing offensive defensemen will likely be lining up at Jake Gardiner’s door.

Schmidt had a career-best 36 points with the Golden Knights last season and in spite of his 20-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs, the 27-year-old was able to garner close to $6 Million per season.

Gardiner has eclipsed the 40-point plateau two years in a row with Toronto and will likely do so again this season with the Leafs powerhouse offense, which means that his price tag should be well in excess of Schmidt. Pair that with the lack of other options in free agency and the 28-year-old will probably be able to draw offers in excess of $7 Million per season next summer.

Kyle Dubas may be hoping that Gardiner will be willing to take less to stay in Toronto (as Morgan Rielly and Nazem Kadri did and William Nylander will do), but the Leafs GM has to be prepared for the possibility of him going to market for the highest offer.

With the aspirations of Toronto being a serious Cup contender this season, the likelihood of trading Gardiner is remote, unless the Leafs get a blueliner of similar quality in return.

What could be the tactic that Dubas opts for is adding a defenseman prior to the trade deadline who has term left on his current contract. Rumored targets of interest such as Justin Faulk, Chris Tanev and Tyson Barrie are all signed through the 2019-20 season, which would give the Leafs a top four defenseman to provide cover in case Gardiner departs and if Travis Dermott or 2017 first rounder Timothy Liljegren are not ready to take on a larger role.

Dubas has the benefit of an organization chock full of prospects and might be more willing to include the club’s 2019 first round pick in a potential trade, since it will likely be in the 20’s based on the Leafs early success.



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