The Toronto Maple Leafs embark on a mini back-to-back trip in the New York – New Jersey area, with a match against former head coach Sheldon Keefe and the Devils on Wednesday, and a visit to Madison Square Garden to take on the Rangers on Thursday. The results on Tuesday only confirmed what the Leafs pre-deadline status should be, as the Bruins 201 win over Pittsburgh moved them nine points ahead of Toronto for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.
In other words, the Leafs are done like dinner, and they should approach the next 48 hours by selling off players for future assets.
A sign of the realization that the season is over was the news on Wednesday that defenseman Chris Tanev has been shut down for the season and underwent core muscle surgery. Tanev was injured in late December and tried to work on getting back into the lineup, but once the Leafs fell out of the race, both sides opted to have his issues surgically repaired. The club indicated that the surgery was successful and that Tanev is expected to be ready for training camp in September.
This move is two-fold. It gives Toronto the certainty that Tanev will be back healthy next season, and his abilities as a top-end shutdown defenseman could help the Leafs bounce back. In the short term, the club could place the blueliner on season-ending LTIR (they have not done so at this point).
If they do, it would open up the full amount of Tanev’s salary ($4.5 million), which could enable GM Brad Treliving to take on salary on a short-term basis from a club looking to open up cap space to make a deadline deal in exchange for a draft pick. Toronto may not choose to do this because if they trade out players on their roster, they will have plenty of cap space to sell off, but it is an option for them.
The trade dominoes continue to fall around the league. On Tuesday night, the Nashville Predators swapped forward Michael McCarron to the Minnesota Wild for a 2029 second round pick. The 30-year-old can play center and wing, is good on faceoffs and as a penalty killer, and has a $900,000 expiring contract. The return on this deal is good news for Treliving, as most people would rank Leafs centers Scott Laughton and Nicolas Roy as better players than McCarron, which means the return should be significantly better for one or both of them.
The trade made between Vancouver and Dallas for defenseman Tyler Myers is also a positive indicator for Toronto. Myers, who reportedly blocked a deal to Detroit in favor of staying in the Western Conference, The right-hand shot is 36 and has another year left on his deal, which likely added a fourth-round pick to the return from the Stars, along with a 2027 second. Once again, the pair of defensemen the Leafs are reportedly shopping, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Carlo, are better and younger than Myers, so the return for them should be higher.
A potential hint of a trade possibility was floated by TSN’s Mark Masters, who pointed out that Jacob Quillan is not in the lineup for the AHL Marlies, who played this morning against the Cleveland Monsters. Masters believes this could be insurance in case the Leafs make a deal involving one of their centers.
Anthony Stolarz is expected to get the start for the Leafs against the Devils.
