The Toronto Maple Leafs return to action against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, a club that will be without head coach Jon Cooper after the passing of his father, but will have most of their injured players back after the Olympic break. The Leafs open the stretch runs six points behind the Boston Bruins and seven points behind the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and will have team captain Auston Matthews in the lineup.
Matthews, as team captain of Team USA, visited the White House on the invitation of US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, along with most of the club’s roster, but did not attend Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, traveling to Tampa to join his club. Toronto is expected to have everyone except Chris Tanev in their lineup back on Wednesday, as head coach Craig Berube indicated that forward Dakota Joshua has been cleared to play. The Leafs held an optional practice in Tampa on Wednesday morning, and Anthony Stolarz is expected to get the start against the Lightning, which means that Joseph Woll will be between the pipes against the Panthers on Thursday.
The Lightning are expected to have a nearly full lineup against the Leafs, including team captain Victor Hedman, who was unable to play against Team USA in the quarter-finals in Milan last week due to an injury in pre-game warmups. Center Brayden Point, and defensemen Emil Lilleberg and Charle-Edouard D’Astous will also be in the lineup, but Anthony Cirelli is not expected to play.
There continue to be indicators that GM Brad Treliving is following the foolish path of waiting to see the results of the Leafs next three games against Tampa, Florida, and Ottawa over the next four days before deciding whether to be a seller, a limited seller, or no seller at all before the trade deadline before March 6th.
There have been no reports of significant progress in contract talks with winger Bobby McMann and center Scott Laughton, putting the Leafs in a vulnerable position to lose them for nothing if they opt to keep them past the deadline. Signing them would only be a good maneuver if they got them at a greatly reduced cost, but for a team fairly bereft of prospects and draft capital, keeping them would only make sense if Toronto believed they were legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
No one in their right mind can make that claim based on the Leafs play through 57 games.
What would the Leafs be losing out on if they do not trade a player like McMann?
In the Athletic’s piece perfect fits for teams at the trade deadline, they project a trade of McMann to Edmonton to bring back a 2026 second-round pick and prospect winger Tommy Lafreniere (who has 32 goals as a 19-year-old with Kamloops of the WHL), but the article does speculate that Toronto could maximize their return if they took back veteran Andrew Mangiapane or retained half of McMann’s $1.35 million salary. If the Leafs did that, they could potentially upgrade the second to the Oilers 2027 first-rounder, and/or the prospect to someone closer to the NHL, like Issac “Ike” Howard, or Matthew Savoie.
If the Leafs are bound and determined to try to compete for a playoff spot, trading an expiring contract like McMann should not be a factor, especially if they think Mangiapane and step in and contribute more than he has with Edmonton.
