After a pair of victories over the dregs of the Western Conference, the Toronto Maple Leafs put in a good effort and got solid goaltending from Anthony Stolarz in a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena. A pair of power play goals from John Tavares and Matias Maccelli, 31 seconds apart, broke a 2-2 tie in the third period to propel the Leafs to their third straight victory before the Olympic break.
Had the Leafs had any success on their most recent homestand, this winning streak would have given the club some momentum going into the break, but the reality is that losing five games on home ice to Minnesota, Detroit, Vegas, Colorado, and Buffalo effectively ended Toronto’s season and shifted their focus from being a potential buyer before the March 6th deadline to a near definite seller. The only question is how extensive the selloff will be.
After their win over Vancouver, the Leafs trailed Boston for the second wildcard spot by eight points. The Bruins are playing Florida and using up their game in hand before the break on Wednesday, and if they win over the fading Panthers, they will be seven points up on Toronto. That means the Leafs will have gained only one point in the standings with three victories in a row.
Once again, the Leafs recent blip is something that cannot divert GM Brad Treliving from moving out players for a chance to recoup some draft capital and young prospects. The odds of Toronto making the playoffs, according to Moneypuck.com went up from 7.2% to 10%. Pending UFA winger and Alberta native Bobby McMann seemed to be the focus of speculation in Edmonton leading up to the game, and the pending free agent winger did nothing to lower his value, adding his second empty-netter in as many games.
The interesting chatter regarding both the Oilers and Leafs involves McMann and his attractive $1.3 million salary, which would fit under Edmonton’s cap if they clear out salary. That could come in the form of winger Andrew Mangiapane, who Toronto was reportedly interested in last summer, before the Bolton, ON native signed a two-year, $7.2 million deal with the Oilers.
Any interest that GM Brad Treliving had in Mangiapane is not relevant to a possible trade between the Leafs and Oilers. McMann is someone who could be an excellent fit with Edmonton, and GM Stan Bowman needs to clear Mangiapane’s $3.6 million salary (for this and next season) off the books to make it happen, so the Leafs should get the requisite return for a sought-after rental, on top of a draft pick to take on Mangiapane’s cap hit.
It does not matter whether Toronto thinks Mangiapane (who played a team-low 8:14 on Tuesday) can turn things around with the Blue and White, the fact that he is not a fit in Edmonton should result in the Leafs getting something to take him off of the Oilers hands. Anything less than that and Treliving should look elsewhere in an effort to move McMann.
Staying on the Oilers page, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast said that there has been some chatter of the Oilers being interested in Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo. Carlo has another year on his deal at less than $4 million AAV.
