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Auston Matthews Undergoes Wrist Surgery

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There’s nothing quite like unexpected, late-offseason surgery to make fans nervous. The Toronto Maple Leafs announced late on Friday evening that star center Auston Matthews has undergone successful wrist surgery. The minimum recovery time is expected to be six weeks.

This is the same wrist injury that plagued Matthews last season, but to this point had only been treated with rest and rehab. According to the team, Matthews began increasing his on-ice training this past week and was noticing some discomfort in his wrist. After receiving medical consultation, both inside and outside the Maple Leafs organization, the decision was made to proceed with surgery.

It is hard to imagine that this injury will not at least impact Matthews’ training camp and cost him some preseason games. If Toronto sticks to their timeline and does not re-evaluate Matthews’ wrist for six weeks to the day – assuming the surgery occurred today – that would be September 24. The Maple Leafs begin training camp the week prior and make their preseason debut the following day, Saturday September 25. Even more concerning is the word “minimum”. Toronto will not want to rush their MVP candidate back from surgery too quickly, but with the Leafs’ season set to begin on October 13, exactly two months away, even a two-week extension in Matthews’ recovery period will mean that the team begins the year without their best player.

Beyond that, there is also the question of whether the surgery impacts Matthews’ shooting ability moving forward. Head coach Sheldon Keefe mentioned multiple times last season that Matthews’ wrist was affecting his shot, yet the skilled center still won the Rocket Richard Trophy. However, that was before surgical intervention into the issue. How Matthews looks when he does eventually return to action will be critical to the Maple Leafs’ success this season as they return to the uber-competitive Atlantic Division.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Joseph Duszak

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Aug 5: The Maple Leafs have officially announced the contract, at the reported terms.

Aug 4: The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Joseph Duszak to a one-year, two-way contract according to CapFriendly. The deal will pay Duszak $750K in the NHL and $150K in the AHL.

Signed as an undrafted college free agent in 2019, Duszak was one of the country’s most productive offensive defensemen at the time. With 47 points in 37 games, the only real questionable part of Duszak’s season was the competition, given he was playing at Mercyhurst College.

Finding out whether he could continue to perform at that level in a professional league was worth it for the Maple Leafs, and Duszak hasn’t disappointed. In his first full year of pro hockey he scored 35 points in 34 games with the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL, while adding 18 points in 23 games with the Toronto Marlies. Those numbers dropped this season in the COVID-shortened schedule, but he still racked up 12 points in 25 games with the Marlies.

Now 24, it’s unlikely that the 5’9″ Duszak really ever makes a considerable impact at the NHL level, but at the very least he’s a strong depth option for the Toronto minor league system.

Front Office Notes: Penguins, Flyers, Maple Leafs, Rangers

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Once a model organization for goaltending performance and depth, the Pittsburgh Penguins play in net has largely gone downhill since the departure of goaltending coach Mike Bales in 2017. His replacement, Mike Buckley, watched as young starters Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry suffered through struggles and was unable to right the ship. The Penguins have decided that it is time for a new voice, especially after failing thus far in free agency to add a veteran mentor for Jarry. The team has announced that Buckley has been relieved of his duties and former Pittsburgh keeper Andy Chiodo has been hired as his replacement. Though new to the job, Chiodo has been with the organization in a development role since 2018. He has also previously worked as a goalie coach in the OHL and Canadian college ranks. Chiodo was considered a high-IQ goaltender during his playing days and will look to take his knowledge of the game and use it to improve the Penguins’ young, inconsistent net.

  • Across the state, the Philadelphia Flyers have made some new additions of their own. The team announced that ten new names have joined the organization, five in hockey operations, two to the Flyers’ coaching staff, and three to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ coaching staff. The headliner of the group is veteran executive Mike O’Connell, named Senior Advisor to the General Manager. A former GM of the Boston Bruins, made infamous as the architect of the Joe Thornton trade, O’Connell has quietly made a very positive difference for the Los Angeles Kings for the past 15 year in various roles in scouting and player development. O’Connell contributed to two Stanley Cup champions and has now helped to draft and develop arguably the best prospect pipeline in the NHL. Among the other front office hires were Pro Scout Nick Beverley, who has spent the past 16 years with the Nashville Predators and Amateur Scout Matt Bardsley, a former GM of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. In Lehigh Valley, the team named two assistants to Ian Laperriere’s staff, former WHL coach Jason Smith former ECHL coach Riley Armstrong.
  • While the New York Rangers have lost some big names from their front office this off-season, they just poached a notable name for themselves. The Toronto Sun’s Lance Horsby reports that Toronto Maple Leafs Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley has decided to leave the team to become Director of Player Personnel in New York. Lilley has been with Toronto since 2006, including the past three years as leader of amateur scouting and therefore the Maple Leafs’ drafts. His new title means even more responsibility with the Rangers, though Lilley will still be in charge of amateur scouting and will run the draft. The Maple Leafs have not named a replacement.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Brennan Menell

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July 31: The Leafs have signed Menell to a one-year, two-way contract, per CapFriendly. It pays $750,000 at the NHL level and $400,000 at the AHL level.

July 28: The Toronto Maple Leafs have sent a conditional seventh-round pick to the Minnesota Wild for the rights to Brennan Menell, who spent last season in the KHL. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that if Menell plays 30 games for the Maple Leafs in 2021-22, the Wild will receive the 2022 seventh-round pick.

Menell, 24, is an unsigned restricted free agent that the Maple Leafs will have to convince to return to North America. He scored 38 points in 47 games during his year in Minsk, continuing a history of elite production outside of the NHL. The right-handed defenseman led all AHL defensemen with 47 assists in 57 games during the 2019-20 season, resulting in a First All-Star Team selection.

Earlier this offseason, Michael Russo of The Athletic reported that the Wild were trying to sign Menell, but if they’ve traded him now perhaps those negotiations didn’t go anywhere. The Maple Leafs face the same challenge, especially given how much success he found in the KHL. There’s no guarantee of playing time in Toronto, though the team has been looking for an answer to their top powerplay. If they believe Menell could perhaps fill that role, it’s quite an incentive to return to North America.

Maple Leafs Sign Nick Ritchie

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For the second straight day, the Maple Leafs have added a former Bruin winger to their team, announcing the signing of Nick Ritchie to a two-year contract.  The deal will carry a cap hit of $2.5MM.

The 25-year-old was the tenth-overall pick back in 2014 with Anaheim hoping he’d become an impact power forward but that didn’t really happen; while he brought plenty of physicality, his offensive production was hot and cold.  That made him expendable and in 2020, Ritchie was flipped to Boston in exchange for Danton Heinen with the hopes that the Bruins could help unlock that offensive consistency.

To his credit, Ritchie did manage a career-high 15 goals last season despite the shortened schedule while chipping in with four points in 11 playoff contests but the Bruins opted to not tender him a $2MM qualifying offer earlier this week which made him an unrestricted free agent; Heinen suffered the same fate with Anaheim.  Ritchie did pretty well on the open market, landing more than that offer would have been for from Toronto while getting a second year.

With the Maple Leafs, Ritchie should have an opportunity to compete for a spot in the top six with both Zach Hyman and Nick Foligno moving on in free agency.  He’s someone that both head coach Sheldon Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas are somewhat familiar with from their days with OHL Sault Ste. Marie as Ritchie spent a partial season there to wrap up his major junior career.

This may very well be it for signings from the Maple Leafs; CapFriendly now has Toronto at roughly $1.4MM over the $81.5MM Upper Limit of the salary cap.  However, that’s with a projected full 23-man roster and as we saw last season, they’re likely to carry closer to the minimum of 20 skaters.  Even after removing some potentially AHL-bound players (pending waivers), they’ll still basically be in a spot where they will be just about at the cap ceiling so any other moves to add to their roster from here on out will require offsetting money.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the signing.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Ondrej Kase

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High ceiling, low floor. That’s what comes with skilled forward Ondrej Kase. When healthy, Kase’s talent is apparent. The 25-year-old winger has a 20-goal season on his resume and has scored at nearly a half-point per-game pace in his young career. The problem is that Kase has only played in 207 games through five NHL seasons, averaging just a half-season’s worth of games per year due to injury. The Boston Bruins learned the hard way that Kase cannot be relied upon, as he played in just nine regular season games total with the team after coming over from the Anaheim Ducks at the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline. This past year, he missed all but three games due to a head injury in the second game of the season and left his return game early, unable to handle getting checked.

Yet, the Bruins still nearly extended him a $2.6MM qualifying offer this summer. Bruins GM Don Sweeney had planned on retaining the dynamic, but fragile forward but changed course. The fact that Kase even remained in consideration for a new deal at that price point speaks to the upside that he brings if he can get healthy and stay healthy.

The Toronto Maple Leafs appear willing to take that chance. The team has announced a one-year, $1.25MM with Kase. While the term mitigates some risk of Kase being unable to return to form following a year missed almost entirely due to concussion symptoms, the Maple Leafs still had to commit over $1MM in order to sign Kase. That signing puts Toronto right up against the salary cap with their projected 23-man roster; so much so in fact that if Kase is on regular injured reserve, the Leafs will not have the room to even recall a minimum salary player to replace him. The trade-off of course is that a healthy Kase will be an excellent addition to their forward corps as a player who can skate with their stars and produce points. It is the ultimate boom-or-bust bargain for Toronto.

Pavel Gogolev Signs Entry-Level Contract

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Pavel Gogolev to a three-year, entry-level contract. Gogolev spent part of this season with the Toronto Marlies after going undrafted out of the OHL, but has now earned an NHL contract.

In 2019-20, Gogolev was one of only six players in the OHL to record at least 40 goals and 85 points, finishing with 45 and 96 in his final year with the Guelph Storm. Despite that, the Russian forward still wasn’t drafted, and started this season playing in the Swedish second tier. After 12 games there, he signed an AHL contract with the Marlies and showed just how good his offensive skills can be. In 13 minor league games he scored six goals and 12 points.

Now, under an entry-level contract, Gogolev doesn’t need to worry about the next step in his development or where he’ll play in 2021-22. If the Maple Leafs want to take advantage of the top-end puck skills that the young forward possesses, there needs to be a lot of work put into the defensive side of the game. That’s worth the gamble at the moment, but an ELC doesn’t mean that Gogolev will be given a chance at the NHL level. In fact, he likely won’t unless his game away from the puck improves dramatically.

After a busy day yesterday adding depth to the organization, the Maple Leafs are now at 43 of their allotted 50 NHL contracts. They felt secure enough to use one of those spots on the 21-year-old Gogolev, now he’ll need to show them it wasn’t a mistake.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Michael Amadio, Brett Seney

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July 29: The Maple Leafs have officially announced the Amadio contract, but he comes with a partner. Brett Seney has also agreed to a one-year, two-way contract that will carry an NHL salary of $750K. Seney, 25, was a Group VI unrestricted free agent after playing just 53 games through his first three professional seasons. None of those came this season, as he spent the entire year with the Binghamton Devils, scoring 10 points in 30 games.

July 28: The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs are bringing in depth forward Michael Amadio. It’s a two-way, one-year deal with a cap hit of $750,000 and $400,000 in guaranteed salary.

Amadio was somewhat of a surprise as a non-qualified restricted free agent of the Ottawa Senators, having come over to the team in a trade for Christian Wolanin earlier this season. Ottawa’s loss is their rival’s gain, as Toronto signs the native of nearby Sault Ste. Marie. Amadio may not have impressed much in his short stint with the Senators, especially since he was only given five games to show what he could do. However, Amadio has previously performed with the Los Angeles Kings and could do so again in Toronto.

With that being said, even for the cap-strapped Leafs there is no guarantee that Amadio will start or even crack the roster. His minimum salary helps, but at 25 Amadio doesn’t appear to have much upside and doesn’t possess any special abilities that would give him a leg up in a competition for play time. Amadio simply appears to be a decent depth option for Toronto with some experience and modest scoring numbers.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Five Players

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have added some toughness to the roster, signing Kurtis Gabriel to a one-year deal worth $750K. The team has also signed David Kampf to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.5MM. James Mirtle of The Athletic adds that the team has also signed Alex Biega and Carl Dahlstrom, while extending a professional tryout agreement to Joshua Ho-Sang.

None of these are game-changing names for the Maple Leafs, but at least one of them has a chance to play every night. Kampf was specifically mentioned by GM Kyle Dubas as a player the team has been targeting for a while, likely thanks to his defensive contributions at the center ice position. One thing the Maple Leafs have been dearly missing over the last few seasons is a true center who can penalty kill and in Kampf they’ve found their answer. The 26-year-old was left unqualified by the Chicago Blackhawks and the Maple Leafs snatched him up for a not-insignificant cap hit. He’ll likely start the year as the team’s fourth-line center.

Gabriel, a 6’4″ enforcer from the San Jose Sharks, will certainly raise some eyebrows on a contract with Toronto, given the way their team is usually perceived. The Maple Leafs have been adding more and more toughness over the last few years by bringing in names like Wayne Simmonds and Zach Bogosian, but now have decided to sign a player that doesn’t really bring much else. The 28-year-old Gabriel has just 49 games in his NHL career but has racked up 153 penalty minutes, including 15 fighting majors. Even though he’s recorded just five NHL points, he could very well be on the roster to add some bite to the fourth line on specific nights.

Biega and Dahlstrom bring some defensive depth to the organization, but neither one figures to be a full-time member of the NHL roster. It’s Ho-Sang that will draw the most attention of the last three. The 25-year-old was a first-round pick in 2014 and has put up strong offensive totals in the minor leagues. There was also a public falling out with his management with the New York Islanders, leading to a split and essentially an end to his NHL career. After playing the 2020-21 season on loan in Sweden, Ho-Sang became a Group VI unrestricted free agent. If he can’t land a contract with the Maple Leafs out of camp, it seems likely that he’ll never have another chance.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Michael Bunting

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TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs have come to an agreement with forward Michael Bunting. It’s a two-year deal with a cap hit of $900,000 for the Toronto area native.

Bunting, 25, timed his late-season breakout with the Arizona Coyotes nicely with his impending Group 6 free agency, turning it into a contract with his hometown team. Bunting recorded a whopping 10 goals and 13 points in just 21 games with the ’Yotes once cracking the lineup. While it seemed that Arizona was intent on re-signing him, other teams took notice including the Maple Leafs and Bunting decided to move on.

His contract is still reflective of his limited NHL experience, Bunting has the chance to turn this short-term pact with Toronto into a substantial raise the next time around. The cap-strapped Leafs will very likely insert the young scorer into their top-nine where he can benefit from playing alongside some of their superstar forwards to put up big numbers.

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