Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Playoff Picture, Trades, Marlies

Jonathan Toews was very complimentary of Auston Matthews before their two teams face off this evening.

While Matthews grew up idolizing Toews and models his game after him, the Blackhawks captain drew comparisons between the Maple Leafs rookie and players like Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane.

“He’s wasted no time,” Toews said of Matthews. “You kind of wonder, if that’s how he comes out of the gate then what’s he going to be like in a couple of years?”

Matthews has 31 goals and 55 points in 69 games as a rookie, while Toews has 18 goals and 50 points in 61 games. Matthews has now passed Toews’ rookie totals by one point; Toews had 54 points in 64 games back in 2007-08.

• With the Islanders picking up a point in an overtime loss on Saturday afternoon, they tied the Maple Leafs with 78 points. Toronto remains in the final wildcard spot due to fewer games played. The Maple Leafs are four points behind the Bruins for third in the Atlantic, and one point up on the Lightning in the wildcard race. With the New York Rangers pretty much guaranteed the first wildcard spot, only one of the Leafs, Islanders, and Lightning will be able to snag the other spot. Toronto can do themselves a big favor by beating the Blackhawks tonight.
• Speaking of Chicago and Toronto, Sportsnet’s Steve Dangle broke down the last six trades made between the two teams. The final list of players acquired isn’t pretty from the Maple Leafs angle. Of the nine pieces acquired by Toronto, only Josh Leivo is still with the team, and he’s a regular in the press box despite having nine points in 12 games. On the other side, the Blackhawks have Artem Anisimov and Richard Panik on their roster, several prospects/ minor-leaguers, and three late draft picks still to come. Dangle points out that Chicago has consistently traded NHLers for cheap depth players over the course of their semi-dynasty, and Toronto has had an excess of those players.
• It was not a great afternoon for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ farm team. The Marlies were up 4-1 on the Binghamton Senators heading into the third period. The Senators scored seven straight goals to win 8-4. Marlies goaltender Antoine Bibeau allowed seven goals on 33 shots for a 0.787 SV%.