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Jake Muzzin In Concussion Protocol; Out Indefinitely

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Jake Muzzin for the next little while, as the defenseman returned home to recover from last night’s scary incident. After being involved in an awkward collision and appearing to slam his head on the ice, Muzzin left the game and was taken to a Montreal hospital. He has now been released,  returned to Toronto, and is “feeling better today” according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, who spoke with reporters including Mark Masters of TSN.

Muzzin, whose 33rd birthday it was yesterday, has had a nightmare season that already included a different concussion. The veteran defenseman has just 12 points in 41 games and has been on the ice for 43 goals against at even-strength, compared to just 34 goals for. That imbalance has been arguably the worst part of the Maple Leafs’ season, as Muzzin had previously been one of the most reliable two-way defensemen in the league, able to match up against an opponent’s best and tilt the ice in Toronto’s favor.

As he leaves, Rasmus Sandin, who was scratched from yesterday’s game, returns. He’ll be joined by newcomer Ilya Lyubushkin, who takes the spot of Justin Holl, who is not expected to play tonight.

Muzzin’s absence though leaves many questions to be answered in Toronto. Will he be able to find his previous level of play, or even be able to return at all? Putting him on long-term injured reserve doesn’t really do the team any good unless he is going to miss the rest of the season, meaning an unclear recovery timeline will only complicate their deadline plans. Hopefully, he’ll be able to recover without issue in the coming days and weeks, even if his return to the ice takes a little longer than that.

Lane Pederson Clears Waivers

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Feb 22: Not only did the Sharks grab Dzingel, but Pederson has also cleared waivers according to Chris Johnston of TSN, meaning they’ll keep him in the organization. Pederson can now be assigned to the minor leagues.

Feb 21: Toronto is apparently on the way to San Jose. The San Jose Sharks have claimed Ryan Dzingel off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs, just days after the team acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes. To open a roster spot, the Sharks have waived Lane Pederson according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

When the Maple Leafs acquired Dzingel, they quickly explained that the plan was to put him on waivers and try to keep him in the organization as a depth option. His entire $1.1MM cap hit could be buried in the minor leagues, giving them an experienced NHL option to replace the outgoing Nick Ritchie. Instead, he’ll get a chance to jump into the lineup with the Sharks, where he’ll have to be kept on the active roster.

It’s certainly not like Dzingel deserves to be in the minor leagues. Though his offensive production has dropped off in recent years, he still is an excellent skater with strong defensive capabilities. In 26 games for the Coyotes this year he scored four goals and seven points, but perhaps could get a bigger opportunity with the reeling Sharks. The team has won one game over the last month, often scoring two or fewer goals in the process.

The last time an underused forward came to San Jose from Toronto, it certainly worked out for the new club. Alexander Barabanov ended up with the Sharks after 22 largely underwhelming games with the Maple Leafs and now is a regular in the team’s top-six. While Dzingel may not be able to recreate the 26 points in 41 games Barabanov has this season, he has performed to that level in the past and potentially could still be a nice addition.

The player he’s replacing in Pederson, meanwhile, has just not been able to create any offense at all this year. In 26 games, Pederson is still without a single goal and has recorded just two assists. The fact that he’s in the first season of a two-year deal that will be one-way in 2022-23, likely keeps him from being claimed on waivers.

For Toronto, the overall effect of the trade is Ritchie (and a draft pick) out, Ilya Lybushkin in, for roughly the same cap hit. The difference is that the defenseman will actually stay on the Maple Leafs roster, meaning as a net transaction, they’ve actually created a bit of cap space.

Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Carter Hutton

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7:47 pm: PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports that the Maple Leafs are expected to loan Hutton back to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners for the time being. Considering the Leafs’ considerable depth at the position in the AHL, the move is such as to not separate Hutton from his family. In the unlikely event he’s needed, he can still be recalled to Toronto.

6:38 pm: Goalie Carter Hutton is on the move from the Arizona Coyotes to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for future considerations, per the team. Hutton had cleared waivers today, meaning that he can be assigned directly to the AHL.

This is the second trade between the two teams within a matter of days. The Maple Leafs acquired Ilya Lyubushkin and Ryan Dzingel from Arizona in exchange for Nick Ritchie and a conditional draft pick, only to lose Dzingel on waivers today to the San Jose Sharks.

Hutton, now 36, played just three games for the Coyotes this season before going down with a lower-body injury. Healthy now, he’ll in all likelihood report to the Toronto Marlies, providing the organization with some additional goalie depth.

Hutton had an eye-popping .741 save percentage and 7.83 goals-against average in those three games with the Coyotes. With youngster Karel Vejmelka and mid-season acquisition Scott Wedgewood holding the fort admirably behind a weak Arizona team, Hutton’s place within the organization had faded away.

The acquisition is somewhat confusing, considering Toronto already has Michael Hutchinson, Erik Källgren, Joseph Woll, and Ian Scott in the minors.

Clark Bishop, Carter Hutton Clear Waivers

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Feb 21: While Dzingel was claimed by the San Jose Sharks, both Bishop and Hutton have cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Feb 20: TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Dzingel, Ottawa Senators forward Clark Bishop, and Arizona Coyotes goaltender Carter Hutton were all placed on waivers today.

Dzingel’s placement is certainly somewhat unexpected, considering the team acquired him last night via trade from the Arizona Coyotes. However, as a casualty of the salary cap, the team was forced to send Rasmus Sandin down to the minors as a paper transaction today. In order for the team to keep both skilled young defensemen Sandin and Timothy Liljegren in the NHL, the team needed to clear additional salary. Dzingel’s cap hit of $1.1M is fully buriable in the AHL.

Bishop is a 25-year-old who’s seen a lot of time up and down between the NHL and AHL over the past few seasons. He’s gotten into nine games with Ottawa this year, but has averaged just 8:21 of ice time per game and has notched one assist.

With Hutton on waivers today, it’s an indication that the veteran goalie is finally healthy. Hutton suffered a lower-body injury just weeks into the season and has been out of the lineup for nearly four months. Seeing as Karel Vejmelka and Scott Wedgewood have both decisively outperformed Hutton’s early-season numbers, it’s the logical choice here for the Coyotes.

Ryan Dzingel Placed on Waivers

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After acquiring him from the Arizona Coyotes last night, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that forward Ryan Dzingel will be placed on waivers today, reports David Alter of The Leafs Nation (Tweet). If he clears, Dzingel will be assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, adds Alter. Dzingel, who has four goals and three assists in 26 games this season for the Coyotes, was acquired last night along with defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin in exchange for a conditional draft pick and forward Nick Ritchie. While it may seem odd to acquire Dzingel to immediately waive him, the move allows the Leafs to potentially keep the forward in the minors, alleviating them of his $1.1MM cap hit, and retain him as a useful depth player down the stretch. Also out of Maple Leafs’ camp, defenseman Rasmus Sandin has been sent down, purely for salary cap flexibility, and is expected to be recalled and rejoin the team Monday, reports the Athletic’s Jonas Siegel (link to tweet).

Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Ilya Lyubushkin, Ryan Dzingel

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have added a pair of players tonight while moving out one frustrated winger. Ilya Lyubushkin and Ryan Dzingel are on their way to Toronto from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Nick Ritchie and a conditional draft pick. The Coyotes can select whether to receive Toronto’s third-round pick in 2023 or second-round pick in 2025. No salary is retained in the deal from either side.

Lyubushkin was referenced at the intermission of tonight’s Maple Leafs game by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, and now just after the loss to the St. Louis Blues, Toronto has made their move. The big defenseman would bring something that the team doesn’t have much of, size and physicality on the back end. Now 27, Lyubushkin has racked up nearly 500 hits in a 180-game career, including 94 already this season. That number would easily lead the Maple Leafs, who currently have Jake Muzzin on top of that list with 81. It’s beside Muzzin that Lyubushkin could even potentially play, giving the team some extra length in something of a shutdown pair. Toronto has been looking to add depth on the right side for some time, as Justin Holl has taken a step backward this year and Timothy Liljegren is still very early in his career.

In fact, this addition could spell trouble for Holl, who played the fewest minutes of any Toronto defenseman tonight and has struggled to fill the top-four role he had with Muzzin in years past. By bringing in another penalty-killing defenseman, it’s unclear what his role will be, though there will have to be a roster spot of some sort by the Maple Leafs tomorrow to create enough cap space. When the team recently acquired Adam Brooks off waivers it was Liljegren who went down for the day.

There is also the addition of Dzingel, however, who adds another forward to the mix for Toronto. A 26-goal scorer in 2018-19, he has just four goals and seven points in 26 games this season for the Coyotes playing in a bottom-six role. Even those four goals are more than Ritchie, who had just two in 33 games for the Maple Leafs despite starting the season with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The 26-year-old Ritchie had played his way right off the Toronto roster, recently having cleared waivers and been assigned to the minor leagues. From a Maple Leafs perspective, getting out from under Ritchie’s two-year deal may have been the most important part of the deal. He was set to earn $2.5MM against the cap again next year, something that a team working in the margins of the salary cap cannot afford if he’s not contributing.

Notably on Dzingel, if he fails to contribute anything, the Maple Leafs could bury his entire $1.1MM salary in the minor leagues. He would need to clear waivers to do it but that allows the team to not be stuck with any dead money if he isn’t a good fit. Lyubushkin meanwhile makes just $1.35MM against the cap, a reasonable number for a defenseman if he’s playing regularly and less than both Holl ($2MM) and Travis Dermott ($1.5MM) who was scratched again tonight.

As a member of the Coyotes, Ritchie certainly isn’t destined for the minor leagues. General manager Bill Armstrong explained that he was “excited” to add Ritchie to the roster, noting that he can give the team some more size and toughness. He also is a player signed for next season, something you can’t say about many other Coyotes. In fact, only Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Andrew Ladd, Jakob Chychrun, Conor Timmins, and Shayne Gostisbehere are on one-way contracts through next season, and several of them may find their way to other teams by the trade deadline. Ritchie, who did score 15 goals in 56 games for the Boston Bruins last season, could find his way to top-six minutes once again in the rebuilding Coyotes lineup.

For them, the big thing is adding another draft pick for expiring contracts. The Coyotes are hoarding selections in their rebuild and will be bringing a huge number of prospects into the system over the next few years.

East Notes: Chiarot, Lyubushkin, Poulin

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There’s a gigantic Saturday night rumors dump, courtesy of Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada. It starts with maybe the most-discussed name on the trade bait list in recent days in Montreal Canadiens defender Ben Chiarot. Talks are reportedly heating up, with Friedman singling the St. Louis Blues on the program as a team interested in Chiarot’s services. It’s entirely likely that Chiarot is another name gone before the deadline, as the Habs certainly don’t seem to be afraid to get out ahead of the action. Chiarot would give the Blues three options with considerable NHL experience at left defense, as Niko Mikkola, Jake Walman, and the injured Scott Perunovich have competed for ice time there this season as well. But none of them have the games played and playoff experience at the NHL level that Chiarot has.

More notes from the Eastern Conference today:

  • The Arizona Coyotes are holding Ilya Lyubushkin out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, and Friedman names the Toronto Maple Leafs as one of the top teams interested in the Russian defender’s services. With Nick Ritchie falling out of favor in Toronto, and Arizona’s willingness to take on buried contracts, the fit seems logical as Friedman suggests. Lyubushkin would be a spectacular depth add for Toronto’s right side defensively, who, aside from T.J. Brodie, has faced inconsistency this season.
  • Jeff Marek reports that prior to the commencement of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Montreal Canadiens reached out to the representatives of Canadian women’s forward Marie-Philip Poulin about what her career plans were after the games, suggesting Montreal had an interest in having Poulin within the organization. While no official job offer was ever made, all indications point to Poulin wanting to continue her on-ice career. The 30-year-old forward still has multiple opportunities to represent Canada on the international stage.

Maple Leafs Recall Timothy Liljegren

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  • The Maple Leafs have recalled defenseman Timothy Liljegren from AHL Toronto, notes TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link). The blueliner was sent down for salary cap reasons after Adam Brooks was claimed earlier in the week but with him now off to Winnipeg, they could afford to bring Liljegren back up.

Maple Leafs To Loan Dmitri Ovchinnikov Back To Sibir Next Season

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  • While the Maple Leafs signed prospect forward Dmitri Ovchinnikov yesterday, his time playing in Russia isn’t up just yet. His agent Shumi Babaev told Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link) that while the 19-year-old’s deal with Sibir Novosibirsk was terminated which permits him to join the AHL Marlies this season, Ovchinnikov will be loaned back to Sibir for 2022-23.  While Ovchinnikov struggled to produce in the KHL this season with three points in 17 games, he was much more productive at the MHL level with 29 points in 22 contests.

Winnipeg Jets Claim Adam Brooks

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The Brooks-go-round continues. Adam Brooks has now been claimed by the Winnipeg Jets off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs, following Cole Perfetti’s injury last night. The Jets, who are ahead of the Maple Leafs in the waiver order, would have had to pass on him just a day prior when the forward was claimed from the Golden Knights. This is the fourth time Brooks has been claimed this season and he still cannot be assigned to the minor leagues.

The path so far for Brooks has been Toronto to Montreal to Vegas to Toronto to Winnipeg, all while playing in just 11 games at the NHL level. A conditioning stint sent him to Henderson to play for the Silver Knights as well, meaning it’s five different clubs in what must be a frustrating year. At least now he is returning to his hometown in Winnipeg, where there could be some playing time finally awaiting.

Perfetti may be out longer than day-to-day according to Jets head coach Dave Lowry, who spoke with reporters including Murat Ates of The Athletic today. Andrew Copp is also out day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Nikolaj Ehlers was among several others already on the sideline. It means that Brooks, who has experience at both center and on the wing, could immediately be needed in the Winnipeg lineup when they take on the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow. Unfortunately, the 25-year-old forward himself has been on injured reserve since January 20 so it is unclear if he’ll be ready to step directly into the action.

In terms of what the Maple Leafs were trying to do, this isn’t actually the worst outcome. The team will now have a chance to grab Brooks back at some point later in the season if the Jets decide to waive him. Had the Golden Knights claimed him (and been the only club to do so), he could have gone directly to the minor leagues and likely been out of their grasp completely.

Brooks is on the second season of a two-year deal that carries a cap hit of just $725K.

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