No Urgency In Maple Leafs’ Defenseman Search

When Nikita Zaitsev was surprisingly placed on injured reserve this weekend, many believed it could push the Toronto Maple Leafs to make a move ahead of the upcoming holiday roster freeze. Zaitsev, who logs the most ice time of any Maple Leafs player, is expected to be out for at least two weeks with a lower-body injury, hurting what was already seen as a Toronto weak point.

The Maple Leafs have been tenuously linked to several defenders this season like Ian Cole in Pittsburgh and Erik Gudbranson in Vancouver, but haven’t yet made a move to strengthen the back end. Instead, they recalled Martin Marincin from the minor leagues and that could be all they do for some time. Darren Dreger was on TSN radio this morning and spoke about the Maple Leafs’ search, pointing out that he doesn’t believe there is an increased level of urgency.

I don’t get the sense that [Maple Leafs GM] Lou Lamoriello is calling 28 general managers like his partner [Senators GM] Pierre Dorion in Ottawa trying to find something. But the word is out there that if something surfaces on the market, Toronto would have considerable interest.

Dreger goes on to explain that Toronto does have some interesting assets in the form of players like Josh Leivo and Kasperi Kapanen, but reiterates that there is no sense of urgency coming out of the Toronto front office.

All of this comes as the team is mired in a three-game losing streak, thanks in large part to the absence of Auston Matthews. Matthews is out with an upper-body injury, and isn’t expected to play tomorrow against the Carolina Hurricanes in the 100-year anniversary of the first NHL game in Toronto. If he isn’t a late addition, the Maple Leafs will have to look to other places to get them out of their scoring slump.

With the roster freeze kicking in tomorrow night, it’s likely that we’ll have to wait and see what the Maple Leafs have planned for new year on their blueline. For now, Marincin and Connor Carrick will be the beneficiaries of Zaitsev’s injury.