- The Maple Leafs and Oilers are among the teams that have spoken to the Flyers about defenseman Sean Walker, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported in a recent appearance on the NHL Network (video link). The 29-year-old right-shot rearguard is having a bounce-back season, recording 17 points in 50 games so far while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night while being on an expiring $2.65MM deal. With a limited supply of quality righties available, Pagnotta notes that Philadelphia has placed a first-round pick as the price tag for Walker’s services although they may have to lower that to get a trade done.
Maple Leafs Rumors
John Klingberg Wants To Resume NHL Career After Hip Surgery Recovery
- Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg intends to resume his NHL career after recovering from season-ending hip surgery, TSN’s Chris Johnston said Tuesday. The 31-year-old signed a one-year, $4.15MM contract with Toronto in free agency but played only 14 games before being shut down for the remainder of the season. Johnston reports the specific procedure that Klingberg underwent is similar to the surgery Red Wings forward Patrick Kane had last summer, which carried a hefty recovery timeframe but did not impact his ability to return to NHL play. It’s unclear if Toronto will have interest in retaining Klingberg at a reduced price next summer should he be able to continue playing.
Strong Trade Interest In Chris Tanev
Impact right-shot defensemen are typically in short supply and high demand and with the trade deadline now less than six weeks away, it appears this year will be no exception. Accordingly, those with one to move will have no shortage of suitors and that’s the case for the Flames with defenseman Chris Tanev as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that as many as ten teams have already reached out to Calgary GM Craig Conroy to inquire about the blueliner.
The 34-year-old has never been a significant point producer and has just nine points in 46 games so far this season but Tanev has a well-earned reputation as one of the top shutdown defensemen in the league. He leads the Flames in shorthanded ice time while hanging around the 20-minute-per-game mark as he often does. On top of that, Tanev is among the league leaders in blocked shots, collecting 135 already, good for fifth-most in the NHL. Considering that teams are always looking to shore up their defensive reliability and penalty killing, it should come as no surprise that there are plenty of teams showing interest in Tanev.
Garrioch notes that the Maple Leafs, Canucks, and Kings are among those teams that have shown interest. Toronto GM Brad Treliving is quite familiar with Tanev from his days in charge in Calgary and Garrioch suggests that the blueliner is currently their top target. As for Vancouver, Tanev would be quite familiar with them having spent the first ten years of his career with them before joining Calgary as a free agent back in 2020. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has an established top four but they have two youngsters (Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence) and journeyman Andreas Englund rounding out the rest of the group; Tanev would certainly give them some more stability.
Ottawa has also been speculated as a team that could be interested with GM Steve Staios looking for a quality veteran or two. However, with the Sens well out of playoff contention, it’s hard to see them coughing up the asking price and Tanev being open to going there over a postseason contender. Worth noting is that Tanev has a 10-team no-trade clause, giving him some control in where he might go. If an acquiring team wants to work out an extension at the same time, that also gives the veteran a bit more leverage to make sure he lands with a new organization of his choice.
With players of Tanev’s caliber hard to come by, it appears that Conroy has set a high asking price for his services. Garrioch relays that the ask is believed to be at least a first-round pick plus a prospect; if teams get into a bidding war, they could get more than that as well if they’re willing to retain the maximum 50%. Tanev has a $4.5MM AAV which is difficult for many contending teams to afford but if that is cut in half and perhaps Calgary takes a smaller contract back, most potential suitors should be able to make that work.
With more than a month until the trade deadline, there’s a good chance that Tanev won’t be leaving Calgary in the immediate future; the longer they wait, the easier it is for teams with regular cap space to afford the contract. But if his market is strong as Garrioch suggests, the Flames will be poised to land a quality future return for Tanev’s services by the time March 8th comes around.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Calle Jarnkrok Week-To-Week With Fractured Knuckle
The Maple Leafs will be without Calle Jarnkrok for the foreseeable future as David Alter of The Hockey News mentions that the winger will be out week-to-week with a fractured knuckle. The injury was sustained in practice on Friday. Jarnkrok has been a valuable and versatile middle-six player this season, playing in a variety of roles while chipping in with ten goals and nine assists through 46 games. Tyler Bertuzzi returns to the lineup after missing Thursday’s game due to the birth of his child while Ryan Reaves will play his first game in six weeks, replacing the injured Bobby McMann.
Atlantic Notes: Samuelsson, Girgensons, Lockwood, Cousins, Jarnkrok
Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons is day-to-day, while the extent of defenseman Mattias Samuelsson’s injury is still being assessed, per team reporter Mike Harrington. Both players are out with upper-body injuries. Girgensons spent a month on injured reserve earlier in the season, while Samuelsson has dealt with a menagerie of small injuries, leading the pair to appear in just 31 and 41 of Buffalo’s 48 games respectively.
Samuelsson has managed seven points and 26 penalty minutes in his outings while playing over 20 minutes a night on average. He’s Buffalo’s third-most frequent defenseman this season, behind Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. The season has continued Samuelsson’s substantial role with Buffalo, with the defenseman averaging 20 or more minutes every year since his rookie season in 2021-22. His only exception to this pattern came in the 12 games he received during the 2020-21 season when he averaged 18 minutes. The Sabres are big fans of the 23-year-old defender, signing him to a seven-year, $30MM contract extension at the beginning of the 2022-23 season. They’ll hope he can return to his frequent role in the lineup soon, alongside depth forward Girgensons, who has four goals and 12 penalty minutes this season.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- William Lockwood entered concussion protocol after his fight with Minnesota Wild forward Brandon Duhaime and is set to miss time beyond the three-game suspension he received for his hit on Marc-Andre Fleury, which preceded the fight. That suspension is set to end on Saturday, though when Lockwood may be ready to return is not yet clear, with head coach Paul Maurice sharing that he will undergo testing on Saturday. Lockwood has just one point and 14 penalty minutes through 23 appearances with the Panthers this season. He’s also recorded seven points and eight penalty minutes through 14 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
- Florida is also getting back forward Nick Cousins, who joined the team for their upcoming two-game road trip and has returned to a full-contact jersey at practice. When he will officially return is not yet clear, but his progress at practice suggests fans won’t have to wait long. Cousins has five points and 20 penalty minutes through 37 games this season.
- Calle Jarnkrok left the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday practice early after blocking a shot in a drill. The extent of his injury is currently unknown, per head coach Sheldon Keefe. Jarnkrok has appeared in 46 games this season, scoring 10 goals and 19 points. He ranks fifth on the high-scoring Leafs lineup in scoring that’s led by Auston Matthews’ 39 goals in 45 games.
Maple Leafs Place Bobby McMann On IR
Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann is heading to injured reserve with a lingering undisclosed injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Friday (via Joshua Kloke of The Athletic). The move keeps McMann with the team for the time being after speculation earlier Friday that he was headed for waivers. In placing him on IR, Toronto has now opened a roster spot to activate winger Tyler Bertuzzi from the non-roster list for Saturday’s game against the Jets.
McMann, 27, has two goals and five assists for seven points in 23 games. He’s averaged 9:22 per contest and is putting up passable possession numbers, recording a 49.4% Corsi share at even strength despite starting nearly 70% of his zone starts coming in defensive usage.
Undrafted, Toronto signed McMann to his first NHL contract in 2022 after he spent two seasons suiting up with their AHL affiliate on minor-league deals. He’s transitioned into more of a full-time NHL role this season, skating in only six AHL contests.
McMann played in 19 of Toronto’s last 21 games as a fourth-line fill-in, providing a noticeable two-way upgrade on the services of injured enforcer Ryan Reaves. He missed one game earlier in January against the Red Wings with an undisclosed injury and was listed as a healthy scratch in Sunday’s game against the Kraken.
The IR placement rules McMann out of tomorrow’s game but no further. It coincides well with the timing of the All-Star break, during which his seven-day absence requirement will be satisfied. If he’s healthy, he’ll be eligible to return for the Maple Leafs’ first post-break game against the Islanders on Feb. 5.
Tyler Bertuzzi Returns From Paternity Leave
- Maple Leafs winger Tyler Bertuzzi is back with the team Friday after missing Wednesday’s 1-0 overtime win over the Jets for paternity leave, TSN’s Mark Masters reports. Bertuzzi will be available for the second half of Toronto’s home-and-home with Winnipeg on Saturday, although the Maple Leafs will need to clear a roster spot for him to return. He was placed on the non-roster list, which kept their active roster at 23 when Ryan Reaves was activated from injured reserve earlier in the week. Per The Hockey News’ David Alter, depth forward Bobby McMann was not at practice today, suggesting he may be headed for the waiver wire in the next few hours for the purpose of assignment to AHL Toronto. Bertuzzi has had strong possession impacts in his first season with the Leafs but has struggled to produce in a top-six role, scoring six goals in 45 games.
Toronto Is Hopeful Joseph Woll Will Return After The All-Star Break
- Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including David Alter of Sports Illustrated that goaltender Joseph Woll will rejoin the team’s practices when they return from the All-Star break. Woll has been out since December 7th with an ankle injury. He was wrapped up in a race for Toronto’s starting position prior to his injury, setting eight wins and a team-leading .916 save percentage through 15 games. Woll will continue to make his case as an everyday NHLer when he returns, after entering the season with just 11 career games.
Ryan Reaves Activated From IR, Tyler Bertuzzi Moved To Non-Roster
In preparation for the team’s high-profile game against the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night, the lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs will look a bit different. Jonas Siegel of The Athletic reports that the team has activated forward Ryan Reaves off of the injured reserve while designating forward Tyler Bertuzzi as a non-roster player as he prepares for the birth of a child.
With Bertuzzi not expected to miss a significant amount of time with the birth of his child, the lineup change will be short-lived. Suffice it to say, after having acquired both forwards in the offseason as unrestricted free agents, the Maple Leafs have not gotten a particularly good return on investment in either player.
Having been out for a little over a month with a lower-body injury, Reaves has scored one goal in 21 games for Toronto so far this year and still carries a team-worst -11 rating on the year after signing a three-year, $4.05MM contract with the Maple Leafs in July. Comparatively, as the highest-paid forward beyond the ’Big Four’ in Toronto, Bertuzzi has managed only six goals in 45 games played, on pace for his lowest-goal total in his career throughout a full season.
Conor Timmins Fined For Cross-Checking
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced today that the league fined Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins for his cross-check on Seattle Kraken forward Brandon Tanev in yesterday’s game. The 25-year-old was ordered to pay $2,864.58 for his penalty which is the maximum amount allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The incident happened early in the game when Timmins cross-checked Tanev below the numbers, causing the Kraken forward to crash into the end boards behind the Toronto net. Tanev jumped up to his feet to try and fight Timmins, but Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit stepped in for Timmins and received a two-minute minor for roughing along with Tanev. Timmins received a two-minute minor for his infraction which left Seattle with a power play that they did not score on.
Timmins has had a difficult time staying in the Maple Leafs lineup this season as he has dressed in just two of Toronto’s last 15 games. While he has been a healthy scratch recently, he also missed almost all of October and November with a lower-body injury. When he has dressed, he’s been a good offensive defenseman having posted a goal and five assists in just 15 games.
The money from Timmins’ fine will go to the Player Emergency Assistance Fund.