Latest On Mitch Marner
The Toronto Maple Leafs are battling some early injuries on their blueline, and it seems that their current situation has led the team to embrace some more unconventional strategies to fill out their defense. As relayed by Sports Illustrated’s David Alter, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said that the team is currently exploring different ways to utilize forward Mitch Marner on defense in certain situations. Keefe specifically cited a late-game situation where the team is down a goal as an example of the sort of situation where it could be appropriate to deploy Marner on the blueline.
While such an idea might seem extremely unorthodox or even desperate to some, but there is at least some precedent for these tryouts in the NHL. Legendary coach Scotty Bowman briefly experimented with using Hall of Fame forwards such as Sergei Fedorov and Bob Gainey on the blueline during his coaching career. Marner, a winger who has a well-regarded defensive game, could potentially carry on that tradition if the Maple Leafs’ poor injury luck continues.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Rasmus Sandin
After losing two more depth defensemen last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally reached an agreement with restricted free agent Rasmus Sandin. The two sides have agreed to a two-year, $2.8MM contract ($1.4MM AAV) which will pay Sandin $1.2MM this season and $1.6MM next season.
The team had Alexander Kerfoot and Calle Jarnkrok filling in on defense last night after losing Jordie Benn and Carl Dahlstrom to injury early in the game, making it even more critical to get Sandin signed and in camp as quickly as possible. While the young defenseman has been worried about his place with the organization, there is a massive opportunity in front of him.
Not only did those two go down but Jake Muzzin is dealing with a back issue, and Timothy Liljegren is set to miss six weeks with hernia surgery. It is Liljegren that is the comparison for this deal, as he signed the exact same two-year $2.8MM contract earlier this summer. Sandin will get a slightly higher qualifying offer, given the $1.6MM salary in 2023-24, but this is basically the contract that was offered to him months ago.
Notably, the team is now quite a bit over the salary cap ceiling but with Liljegren and John Tavares potentially starting the year on long-term injured reserve, there’s a little bit of flexibility. Getting Sandin signed now gives him the best chance of a good start to the season, as he will still have time to get up and running in training camp.
Getting him to sign a two-year deal is even better, as the Maple Leafs will secure another relatively cheap year from the young defender. Filled with promise, Sandin has still only played 88 regular season games in the NHL, including 51 last season. He does have 28 points in those games, and has flashed potential top-four upside, but to this point, very little is proven. He’ll get the chance to do so this season, one way or another.
Evening Notes: Nylander, Maple Leafs Injuries, Sillinger
The Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans figure to have a tense few months throughout the 2023-24 NHL calendar, as superstar Auston Matthews will be eligible for an extension, and should he choose not to pursue one in Toronto, could head to the UFA market. But, even if Matthews were to re-sign, the UFA worry wouldn’t stop there, as William Nylander is also set to hit the market in the summer of 2024. It doesn’t feel like too long ago when Nylander held out as an RFA, ultimately signing a six-year, $45MM deal at the last minute on December 1st of 2018, but that long-term deal is now more than halfway complete.
Recently, The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel had a chance to sit down with Nylander to discuss his future. When asked about the possibility of an extension with the Maple Leafs or testing the free agent market, Nylander said it wasn’t something he had really thought much of, but added that it would be “unreal to stay,” especially if the team could go on a deep playoff run before then. Looking deeper into an extension, Siegel opines that if Nylander can build upon his 2021-22, where he had 80 points in 81 games, and help Toronto make a deep playoff run, not only does an extension with the Maple Leafs become more likely, but it could push his number to at least $9MM per season. On the other hand, if Toronto is still unable to take the next step in the playoffs, they could opt to move on from Nylander. Of course, there is still plenty of time for Nylander to establish who he is as a talent and two more postseasons before his contract formally expires but, as one of five members of a group of Maple Leafs superstars who may figure to earn a raise from his $6.96MM cap hit, the Maple Leafs could be poised to make an interesting decision either way.
- Sticking with the Maple Leafs, the team lost two of its defenseman in tonight’s preseason contest against the Montreal Canadiens before the game was even half over. Veteran Jordie Benn, who signed with Toronto this offseason, suffered an undisclosed injury early on in the first period and left the game. The Maple Leafs have since announced that he will not return to the game for precautionary reasons. Also injured was Carl Dahlstrom, who the team soon after announced would not return to the game for precautionary reasons. Losing the pair puts the Maple Leafs in a tough circumstance early on in a preseason game, left with just four defenseman. At one point, forwards Calle Jarnkrok and Alexander Kerfoot were taking shifts on defense for Toronto.
- Aaron Portzline of The Athletic tweeted that, per Columbus Blue Jackets radio host Dylan Tyrer, forward Cole Sillinger skated today in a non-contact sweater after he suffered an upper-body injury on the first day of training camp. Today’s skate was Sillinger’s first since the injury, and no timetable for a more formal return has been disclosed.
Jake Muzzin Returns To Practice
- Jake Muzzin joined his teammates at practice today, after sitting out the last few because of an ongoing back issue. The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman did leave early as a precaution, but head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including David Alter of Sports Illustrated that Muzzin could have continued.
John Tavares Suffers Oblique Strain
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without their captain for the next three weeks, as John Tavares has been ruled out that long with an oblique strain suffered on the weekend, according to Lance Hornby of Postmedia.
A three-week absence essentially ends Tavares’ training camp and likely rules him out for the first few regular season matches, as the Maple Leafs are set to open up their schedule on October 12, just 15 days from now. While it isn’t a huge chunk of the season, Tavares is now 32 and missing training camp will only put him behind the competition upon his return. Toronto was hoping for a big season out of their captain, who is still one of the league’s highest-paid players well into the seven-year deal he signed in 2018.
At the time, the gamble the Maple Leafs made was that the salary cap would continue to go up, making Tavares’ $11MM cap hit a little more palatable. Because of the COVID shutdown and a flat salary cap, the veteran center remains the fifth-highest cap hit in the league, now into the fifth year of the deal. Though he is still an outstanding player – who scored 76 points in 79 games last season – many have argued that his contract has limited the success of the Maple Leafs in recent years, arguing that depth would be more beneficial for an Auston Matthews-led roster.
Whichever side of that debate a Maple Leafs fan comes down on, losing Tavares for the next few weeks certainly isn’t ideal. The team will have to find a different player to fill the second-line center role for the time being.
Latest On Adam Gaudette
While the Toronto Maple Leafs are undoubtedly a team centered around star power, in recent years the organization hasn’t been afraid to give lesser-known players the chance to take the next steps in their careers. Last season, 26-year-old rookie Michael Bunting earned a spot next to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, and played well enough to make the 2021-22 All-Rookie team. At this year’s training camp, it looks as though another under-the-radar player could get a massive opportunity in Toronto.
Per Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, the Maple Leafs have started camp with forward Adam Gaudette on a line with Marner and captain John Tavares. Additionally, Siegel notes that Gaudette will get looks on the team’s top power-play unit in the preseason. Gaudette, the 2017-18 Hobey Baker Award winner, has struggled in recent years to live up to the hype he had as a college hockey star. After a 2019-20 campaign that saw him post 33 points in 59 games, the holes in Gaudette’s all-around game led the Canucks to trade him to the Blackhawks. Gaudette played just 15 games in Chicago before heading to Ottawa as a waiver claim, and he had 12 points in 50 games as a Senator last season. He was not qualified by the team this summer, and then Gaudette signed a one-year, league-minimum deal in Toronto. At this point it, looks as though the Leafs will give Gaudette every chance to showcase his offensive talent and far outproduce what is typically expected from a player on a 750k cap hit.
Samsonov Insisted On One-Year Deal In Free Agency, No Extension Offered To Dubas
When the Maple Leafs signed goaltender Ilya Samsonov to a one-year deal in free agency, both the team, the term, and the money raised some eyebrows. However, GM Kyle Dubas told Postmedia’s Steve Simmons that the 25-year-old insisted on signing a one-year deal, likely with the hopes of rebuilding his value. Samsonov was non-tendered by Washington earlier this offseason instead of offering him $2MM with arbitration rights on the heels of a season that saw him post a 3.02 GAA and a .896 SV% in 43 games. Getting less than that in free agency was a bit of a surprise given the market for backup goaltenders but clearly, he feels Toronto was the right fit to have a bounce-back year. He will once again be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.
- Still with Toronto, GM Kyle Dubas told reporters including Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link) that he was informed that no offer of a contract extension would be coming his way at this time. Dubas is entering the final year of his deal, his fifth at the helm of the Maple Leafs and at first glance, it seems fair to wonder if how they perform in the playoffs will go a long way to determining if he’ll be around for a sixth season.
Snapshots: Hague, Pastrnak, Jets
When Vegas Golden Knights training camp opens tomorrow morning, defenseman Nicolas Hague won’t be there as he awaits a new contract. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports that he isn’t expected to be on the ice with his teammates Thursday morning at City National Arena, the team’s practice facility.
Hague is one of the few remaining restricted free agents in the NHL, alongside Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin and Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson as the marquee names. Granger expertly notes that Hague missing camp is more detrimental than in previous seasons, as new head coach Bruce Cassidy will be installing a completely foreign defensive system from what the Knights have been used to in past seasons. Hague, the 34th overall pick in 2017, had 14 points in 52 games last season.
- Speaking today during preseason media availability, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney says it’s a priority for him to get pending free agent winger David Pastrnak signed as soon as possible. Pastrnak, while he’s expressed a strong desire to stay in Boston, hasn’t shared the same urgency in negotiations in previous reporting. Pastrnak, who’s notched 40 or more goals in his last two full seasons, will be in line for a substantial raise, and it may behoove Sweeney to get a deal done before his value rises even further.
- The Winnipeg Jets have made three scouting hires, including the first woman scout in team history, Sydney Daniels. Daniels joins the team as an NCAA scout, having previously served as the assistant coach for the women’s team at Harvard. The team also brought on Jari Kekalainen, brother of Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, as a European scout, and former Toronto Maple Leafs scout Tony Martino as a USHL scout.
Timothy Liljegren, Pierre Engvall To Miss Start Of Training Camp
Sep 21: Liljegren will be out a minimum of six weeks following hernia surgery earlier this week. Engvall suffered an ankle injury while training in Sweden and will be re-evaluated in the first week of October.
Sep 20: The Toronto Maple Leafs season isn’t getting off to a good start, as injury news has already started to trickle out. First, it was Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets reporting that Timothy Liljegren will miss training camp, with the team expected to address the situation with the media tomorrow. Next, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweeted that Pierre Engvall will also miss the start of camp, and is waiting for another evaluation.
No timeline is clear for either player but both appear to be out for the next little while at least.
The Liljegren news is especially troublesome for the Maple Leafs, who still don’t have a ton of depth on the right side of their defense. T.J. Brodie will likely play on that side again (despite being left-handed), and Justin Holl is still around to suit up. But beyond that, Liljegren was expected to be thrust into a bigger role this year, potentially even logging top-four minutes every night.
Now, some of those minutes may have to go to players like Jordie Benn or Victor Mete, who were signed in the offseason.
It will be interesting to see if this affects negotiations with unsigned RFA Rasmus Sandin, given there should be a bit of an opening in the lineup if Liljegren missed a considerable amount of time. Speculation for months has indicated that Sandin may be looking for a bigger role, something that didn’t seem possible once the team re-signed Mark Giordano to a two-year deal. Perhaps this is the opening he needs to work his way into more regular minutes.
Engvall’s absence, meanwhile, will create an interesting situation in camp for some of the younger players. Joey Anderson, Nicholas Robertson, Alex Steeves, and Nicholas Abruzzese all played NHL games last season but it wasn’t clear whether there would be room for them on this year’s squad, after the Maple Leafs signed Adam Gaudette, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and Calle Jarnkrok as free agents.
The team also brought in Zach Aston-Reese on a PTO, something that might result in a contract should Engvall miss a good chunk of time.
Snapshots: Sandin, Senators, Schneider
One of the unsigned restricted free agents still waiting on a contract is Rasmus Sandin of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Some have suggested that the Maple Leafs could trade the young defenseman, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet threw some cold water on that today during the 32 Thoughts podcast.
Like I said a couple of weeks ago, I really don’t think Toronto has a desire to trade Sandin. You look at their depth chart over the next couple of years and basically every defenseman aside from [Timothy] Liljegren and [Morgan] Rielly come off the cap pretty soon. I think they have a desire to keep him.
Friedman notes that some agents believe the leverage for Sandin (and fellow unsigned RFA Nicolas Hague) has been lowered by some of the recent deals signed, including the ones for Michael Anderson (one year, $1MM) and Sean Durzi (two years, $3.4MM) with the Los Angeles Kings. Camp starts in just a few days, meaning Sandin might be absent if a deal can’t be worked out at the last second.
- The Ottawa Senators announced their full leadership group ahead of what should be a very interesting season. Claude Giroux will be one of Brady Tkachuk‘s alternates, along with Thomas Chabot, after signing a three-year, $19.5MM contract this offseason. Giroux served as captain of the Philadelphia Flyers for ten seasons before reaching unrestricted free agency this summer.
- Cory Schneider will be back in the New York Islanders organization this season says general manager Lou Lamoriello, who spoke with media including Kevin Kurz of The Athletic today. The 36-year-old goaltender leaned into his role with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders last year, posting a .921 save percentage in 30 games, while also making one appearance at the NHL level (and winning his first game since 2019-20). Like so much other Islanders-related news, it is not clear what kind of contract Schneider will be signing, or what role is expected of him this year.