Three crucial games are on the schedule for the Maple Leafs this week, but it’s what happens off the ice that could chart the course of what the club does before the trade deadline.
Defenceman Morgan Rielly, out of the lineup since Jan. 12 when he suffered a broken foot against the Florida Panthers, is slated to have another appointment with doctors late in the week to assess how he is recovering. Based on that meeting, general manager Kyle Dubas should have a clearer idea as to how serious he will be in pursuit of a defenceman before the National Hockey League’s deadline hits on Feb. 24.
The original prognosis on Rielly was that he would miss at least eight weeks, which would put him out of the lineup until some time around mid-March. If it’s determined that Rielly could be out longer, perhaps until the end of the regular season, the player would stay on long-term injured reserve.
With Ilya Mikheyev (wrist) and Cody Ceci (ankle) in a similar position, Dubas would have the money to acquire a defenceman, provided there is certainty that Rielly, Mikheyev and Ceci would stay on LTIR until the regular season ends. With no salary cap implications in the playoffs, any of the three, if not all, could return to the lineup.
The Leafs have enough on their plate on the ice, beginning the week in third place in the Atlantic Division, two points up on the Panthers, who have two games in hand.
Home games against the Arizona Coyotes and Dallas Stars, on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, will be followed by a date on Saturday in Ottawa against the Senators that starts a three-game trip.
What would be best for the Leafs, likely in a playoff race until the final week of the season, would be to get Rielly back as soon as possible. If Dubas — who indicated last week that Rielly’s appointment will be this Friday — makes a trade for a defenceman, there is little chance he would get one of Rielly’s calibre.
Youngsters Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren have performed admirably, but the Leafs need Rielly for the playoff push, even if the original diagnosis of eight weeks is correct.
“We’re playing hard, but that’s a huge loss for us,” Tyson Barrie said. “He is, in my opinion, one of the best defencemen in the league and it hurts to have him out.”
If Dubas decides to stand pat, Sandin and Liljegren will have to shine.
“We have a bright future with those two kids,” Leafs captain John Tavares said on Saturday after playing in his 800th career NHL game. “Especially the meaningful games we are playing right now and how important each and every shift is, they’re stepping up and playing great.”
SIMMERING SOUP
Two games are an awfully small sample size to judge what a player potentially can add, but it’s apparent the Leafs have in Jack Campbell a goaltender who brings the kind of temperament required to be a strong backup.
Campbell’s first two games in a Leafs uniform resulted in three of a possible four points, and after each outing, the 28-year-old was on point.
The word on Campbell when the Leafs acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings last Wednesday, along with burly forward Kyle Clifford, was the club was getting a genuinely good person who will be a pillar in the dressing room.
Again, it’s early, but that idea is bearing out in what Campbell has been saying.
“I felt great,” Campbell said after starting twice in a 24-hour span, the first time he had done so in the NHL. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to get back in there.
“For me, I’m on my game when I’m not thinking so much and it’s nice to be able to to get some rhythm going. I know Freddy (Andersen) will be healthy, whenever that is, and I know he’s going to play great down the stretch. It’s my job to be ready whenever my number is called.”
Fatigue was not an issue for Campbell after he made 26 saves against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday and then 28 against the Montreal Canadiens.
“There’s a little taste to what some No. 1s go through,” Campbell said of the back-to-back starts. “It’s about battling for your teammates and that’s what drove me (Saturday), was just forget about how I feel and whether I’ve ever done it. I just know this team needed two points. We got one … and we’ll get two points next time.”
Campbell had been perfect until a point shot by Canadiens defenceman Marco Scandella got past him with under three minutes to play.
“I just made one small little error,” Campbell said. “I was trying to stay a little bigger (and failing to keep his stick on the ice). I’ll fix it and I know I’ll be even better next game.”
Campbell is under contract through the 2021-22 season. That has to make Leafs Nation happy.
NICK TICKS ALONG
As Auston Matthews closes in on 50 goals — he needs 10 in the Leafs’ final 26 games to reach the milestone — prospect Nick Robertson continues to fill the net with the Peterborough Petes.
Robertson, the Leafs’ second-round pick last year, has been scoring at an eye-opening rate and is approaching an Ontario Hockey League record.
Robertson has scored at least one goal in 14 consecutive games, bringing him to 42 goals in 37 games this season.
The OHL record for most consecutive games with at least one goal is 19, set by the Petes’ Mike Ricci in 1988 and tied by Alex DeBrincat of the Erie Otters in 2017.
When the Leafs chose Robertson 53rd overall last June in Vancouver, the feeling in some corners was that Toronto got a steal. Robertson, whose shot and accuracy already would be the envy of many players across the NHL, is proving that notion correct.
It’s safe to assume Robertson would have hit 50 goals a while ago had he not missed a total of 16 games, first because of a finger injury and then because of his participation with the United States at the world junior championship in the Czech Republic.
When Robertson signed an entry-level contract with the Leafs last fall, he eschewed insisting on performance bonuses, figuring it could eventually help him get to the NHL quicker considering the salary-cap constraints Toronto faces.
“Signing for a little less would help me in the fact that, theoretically, if they were to call me up, it wouldn’t affect their cap (as much),” Robertson told us recently. “Right now, I don’t really care about how much the first contract is or how much the second one is. It was just good for me to sign and it gave me confidence and it has worked out so far.”
LOOSE LEAFS
The Leafs return to practice on Monday after having Sunday off, and we should have a better idea whether Andersen (neck) will be able to play on Tuesday against the Coyotes. The Leafs are hopeful that another day away from the rink gave forward William Nylander, who missed the past two games because he was sick, the time he needed to get healthy … Given a chance to have a do-over, Barrie wouldn’t have taken a shot off the rush on Canadiens goalie Carey Price in overtime on Saturday night. Price made a relatively easy save, re-directing the puck with his blocker to Nick Suzuki. The Canadiens forward wheeled up ice on a breakaway and Montreal scored seconds later when Ilya Kovalchuk buried Suzuki’s rebound for a 2-1 win. “I shouldn’t have shot it,” Barrie said. “Probably should have pulled up and waited for something better to present itself. It was a perfect scenario for them.” … Campbell’s initial impression of Tavares: “What a leader. I’ve been with a couple of awesome captains, Jamie Benn (in Dallas) and Anze Kopitar (in Los Angeles) and I love those guys. J.T. brings that. He says some great stuff and he backs up everything. It’s only been a couple of days for me with him so I won’t elaborate too much but it’s just an honour to play with him.” … Mason Marchment scored his sixth goal in three games on Sunday to help the Toronto Marlies beat the visiting Laval Rocket 5-2. Egor Korshkov, Kristians Rubins, Matt Read and Pontus Aberg also scored for the Marlies, who won for the second time in as many games. Toronto goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo made 25 saves.
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