Bye-Bye Blais, Carlo Summer Trade Talk

The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to maintain their winning ways on the road, as they face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Friday night. The contest is the first of games on back-to-back nights, so Wednesday’s hero Joseph Woll and backup Dennis Hildeby will each make a start, but to this point, it is unknown who will go against the Caps. 

Prior to the 2-1 overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, the Leafs made a series of roster changes, one of which was placing of winger Sammy Blais on waivers. On Thursday, Blais was reclaimed by the Montreal Canadiens, and since they were the club to place him on waivers last month and the only team to put in a claim, the veteran forward can be sent down to Laval in the American Hockey League without having to clear waivers again.

Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli were healthy scratches on Wednesday, and rookie Jacob Quillan was sent down to the AHL Marlies to make room on the roster for the returning Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, and Nicolas Roy. With the club playing on consecutive nights, it is likely that there will be a few players who only play one game on the weekend, so that Joshua and Maccelli get back into the lineup. 

Maccelli skated as an extra forward at practice in Washington on Thursday, while Joshua was reunited with Roy, along with Bobby McMann. William Nylander had a maintenance day, but is expected to play. It is unknown whether Calle Jarnkrok, Nick Robertson or Max Domi will be scratched, but based on his poor play throughout the season, especially at center, it may be time for Domi to sit awhile and ponder what it takes to be an effective pro.

In the third period on Wednesday, he was partially responsible for Zach Werenski’s go-ahead goal because of a lost offensive zone puck battle, but another lost battle along the wall late in regulation led to another Columbus scoring chance that nearly cost Toronto two points.    

Carlo To Buffalo?

Defenseman Brandon Carlo skated again on Wednesday, which is a positive sign that the veteran blueliner will get back in the Leafs lineup sometime next week. Carlo and Chris Tanev are much needed to shore up the Leafs defense, who are playing Simon Benoit in the top four, Jake McCabe and Oliver-Ekman Larsson on their off-sides, and Dakota Mermis and Troy Stecher on the bottom pairing. 

Carlo was the subject of some interesting rumors put up by Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos on his first trade board earlier this week  The Leafs acquired the big right-shot defenseman from Boston in March for the playoff stretch drive, but Kypreos reported that over the summer, GM Brad Trelving explored some trade options with the Buffalo Sabres for a pair of restricted free agents, winger JJ Peterka and defenseman Bowen Byram. 

Peterka would obviously have been a top-six winger replacement for departed free agent Mitch Marner, after finishing second in scoring for the Leafs Atlantic Division rival, but just prior to the NHL Draft, the 23-year-old was dealt to Utah for defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan. 

Byram would have likely been a Marner replacement as the quarterback on the Leafs power play, and likely would have replaced Carlo as Morgan Rielly’s top-pairing partner, but the Sabres opted to agree to a two-year bridge deal with agent Darren Ferris, which likely means Byram will either be traded before the deadline or over the summer before going to market as a free agent in the summer of 2027. 

Was This Realistic?

A reason for some scepticism here. Carlo would have fit Buffalo’s needs as a right-handed complement for Owen Power, and his two remaining years would have been attractive to the fiscally restrained Sabres, but it is unknown whether the Leafs would have given Peterka the same five-year, $22.5 million extension that the Mammoth did. 

The Byram deal would have been extremely risky for Sabres GM Kevyn Adams, whose job is already on the precipice. There is a reason why the Sabres and Leafs have not made a major deal since the Grant Fuhr for Dave Andreychuk, Darren Puppa, and a first-round pick (Kenny Jonsson) deal in 1993. A bad deal is one thing for Buffalo, but a bad deal and being reminded of it every Saturday night would be a nightmare.