The Toronto Maple Leafs open a four-game road trip against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Centre on Wednesday with a precarious lead in the North Division. The 10-game season series is split two apiece through four games, but the Jets earned five of a possible six points in a three-game series against the Leafs earlier this month and trail Toronto by one point for top spot in the North.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that there will be only one lineup change, as goalie Jack Campbell took part in the morning skate in Winnipeg and will make his seventh start of the season after sitting out Monday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Edmonton. Keefe had no update on the status of Frederik Andersen, who has been out since March 19 with a lower body injury, other than to say that the Leafs starter is scheduled to see another specialist on Thursday.
The Leafs continue to be linked to trade speculation with less than two weeks to go until the NHL Trade Deadline, but their potential targets may be changing based on the playoff races in the four divisions.
In the North, both Calgary and Vancouver are likely to join Ottawa are potential sellers before April 12, since the Flames and Canucks trail fourth place Montreal by four points and the Habs have five games in hand on both. Possible targets inside the Canadian division for Toronto are Sam Bennett, David Rittich, Jordie Benn and Ryan Dzingel.
In the East, only New Jersey and last-place Buffalo are certain sellers, although a bad stretch over the next week could move the NY Rangers and Philadelphia into that column. Devils forward Miles Wood and Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark could be of interest to Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, depending on the prognosis of Andersen and Toronto’s interest in adding a forward.
In the West, Arizona and Los Angeles are still within striking distance of the slumping fourth place St. Louis Blues, but the Coyotes might be willing to sell to recoup lost draft picks from the Taylor Hall deal and the NHL’s penalty for illegal player testing. Sharks and Ducks backups Devan Dubnyk and Ryan Miller, Coyotes forward Conor Garland and Kings winger Alex Iafallo may be on the Leafs radar.
In the Central, the Nashville Predators have won eight of the last nine games and are tied with Chicago for the last playoff spot, which could sway GM David Poile not to sell defenseman Mattias Ekholm or rental Mikael Granlund, who the Leafs have long rumored to be interested in. The only certain seller in the division is Detroit (Masterton Trophy winner Bobby Ryan’s $1 million salary may interest Toronto), but the recent struggles of Columbus may make veteran forward Nick Foligno available if he is willing to waive his no movement clause in the next few weeks.
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It’s game day! The Leafs will take on the Oilers again tonight.
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