The Maple Leafs lost in five games to the Florida Panthers in the second round because they didn’t score enough goals.
In particular, their top players didn’t score enough, especially Auston Matthews and John Tavares, who were both held without a goal. The Leafs got contributions here and there from lower in the lineup, but not enough to cover up for the big guys, and almost nothing from the defence beyond Morgan Rielly.
The Leafs scored two goals or fewer in their final seven playoff games.
Which sort of explains GM Brad Treliving’s willingness to take a chance on John Klingberg, who had 21 points in 26 playoff games for Dallas once upon a time en route to the Stanley Cup Final.
The problem? That was a long time ago, more than three years, in fact. Klingberg’s stock has been on the decline since. He’ll be 31 in August. For the second consecutive summer, he drew only a one-year deal in free agency. He’s coming off another bumpy season that saw him struggle in both Anaheim and Minnesota.
The Leafs agreed to pay him $4.15 million on the cap anyway, albeit only for one year.
Ryan Reaves’ perplexing three-year deal on top of that makes for two questionable bets to start free agency for the Leafs.
Treliving said depth scoring remains a need. Why, then, did they add a 36-year-old who has produced the following numbers in his last 36 playoff games: zero goals and one assist, while averaging nine minutes per game?
Obviously, the Leafs did not sign Reaves to score goals or help the offence. Why exactly did they sign him? For personality, it seems. Toughness, too.
“There’s a presence to Ryan,” Treliving explained after day one of free agency. “The one thing, talking with the staff and just looking at this group, it’s a quiet group.”
Why did the Leafs sign Reaves? For intangibles, basically. Generally speaking, however, paying for intangibles is almost always a mistake, one that previous regimes in Toronto made regularly on July 1. Think Colton Orr, Jeff Finger, Mike Komisarek, David Clarkson. But it’s an even bigger mistake for this particular Leafs team, which, unlike those other squads, is trying to win the Stanley Cup right now.
It also feels like a misjudgment of what’s held this team back over the years.
More noise in the dressing room won’t solve the lack of finish and resolve from the stars and their supporting cast when it matters. Just like it didn’t when the Leafs had personalities like Joe Thornton, Jake Muzzin, Wayne Simmonds, Ryan O’Reilly and Jason Spezza around.
Let’s say Reaves does lighten things up, and maybe that has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the group. How exactly is he helping the Leafs on the ice?
Tom Wilson having a warm discussion with Ryan Reaves. (Nick Wosika / USA Today)
Will he even be on the ice, or in the lineup period, in the playoffs? Can he help the Leafs in tangible terms in a series against the Lightning, Bruins or Panthers? Can he keep up?
Treliving thinks yes and lauded Reaves’ “physical presence.”
“He can still get on the forecheck, makes things difficult for the opposition, and it gives us a little bit of a different look on our lower lines,” the Leafs GM said.
Reaves will be 37 when the playoffs roll around next season. While he’s large, he’s not quick and won’t get any quicker. He’ll be 38 at playoff time in year two of the deal and 39 in year three. Why exactly did the Leafs give someone of his age and skillset a three-year contract?
Treliving said it’s what it took to keep Reaves from going elsewhere.
In each of the past few postseasons, the Leafs have seen older players, who were kept around for their intangible qualities, struggle to remain in the lineup and who were liabilities when they were out there. Think Kyle Clifford, Simmonds, Thornton. Mark Giordano, after a strong regular season, was barely playable last spring.
Spezza retired into the front office last summer, following a late-season string of healthy scratches.
Sheldon Keefe wanted it to work with all of them. Clifford and Simmonds both memorably played early against the Lightning in 2022. Both were tough. Both were intimidating. Both were leaders. It didn’t matter. They quickly lost their spots in the lineup.
There’s a very good chance things go the same way with Reaves, not just down the line but in year one.
Just last season, after only 12 games, the Rangers decided that Reaves could no longer be in their lineup. Why? They’d been outscored 6-1 when Reaves was on the ice, with an expected goals mark of 33 percent. Reaves became a frequent healthy scratch before he was dealt to the Wild.
Things improved for him in Minnesota, but not to the point of helping the Wild, who were eliminated in the first round in the playoffs.
No, Reaves isn’t making much ($1.35 million cap hit). But why commit a roster spot at all for an intangibles-only player at the end of his career?
If toughness and some combination of leadership and personality was an issue, why not address it, as the Leafs did at the trade deadline last season, with competitive players who can make a tangible difference in a playoff series?
Why not keep Noel Acciari around? Acciari got a three-year deal from Pittsburgh for slightly more money ($2 million cap hit) than Reaves. He at least brings some offence and other tools in his toolbox. He’s a hitting machine. He kills penalties. He can be on the ice defending a late lead. He’s responsible defensively.
Why not address the bottom of the lineup with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Luke Glendening or Andrew Cogliano, veterans who can still play a little?
In signing Reaves and David Kämpf before him, the Leafs are now stuck with two bottom-six players who contribute little to no offence. And that will put even more pressure on the stars to produce in the postseason.
The Leafs still have to find a viable scoring threat to help replace Michael Bunting, who punched in 46 goals the past two seasons.
Keefe also won’t have any malleability with Reaves. He’ll either play on the fourth line or not at all.
That was part of the appeal with past additions like Acciari, Sam Lafferty, O’Reilly and even Calle Järnkrok. They were switchable parts for the Leafs’ coach. Reaves is not that.
John Klingberg. (Charles LeClaire / USA Today)
Klingberg is another declining stock player who averaged under 17 minutes for the Wild in the playoffs. The ice was tilted badly in the wrong direction for both Minnesota (45 percent expected goals) and Anaheim (37 percent!) when Klingberg was on the ice during the regular season.
More than 200 NHL defencemen played at least 500 five-on-five minutes last season. None saw their team allow more expected goals per 60 minutes than Klingberg (3.84). In other words, Klingberg’s teams were giving up plenty of good looks when he was on the ice.
Now maybe there’s some Ducks-related chaos baked in there, but it’s not like things were great a year before in Dallas.
“John would be probably the first one to tell you it didn’t go exactly the way he wanted it to go last year,” Treliving said. “But he’s a really good player in this league. He can move the puck. He jumps up in the play.”
Added the Leafs GM: “He’s an elite offensive player in (the offensive) zone, so to me, he’s gonna bring us some more puck movement and hopefully some more production from the blue line.”
The Leafs could use more juice that way. From Jake McCabe to Giordano and Justin Holl, the Leafs had all kinds of trouble moving the puck in the playoffs. After Rasmus Sandin was dealt to Washington, it was really only Rielly providing a constant spark of creativity on offence.
But will it all be canceled out by Klingberg’s deficiencies at the other end?
Klingberg doesn’t solve the Leafs’ need (which they may still address) for the kind of impact defenceman who can tussle against top lines in the playoffs, nor does he bring the kind of heft and snarl that Luke Schenn delivered this past spring.
He proved erratic for the Wild after his trade from Anaheim, and they had no interest in re-signing him.
The Leafs are betting not on the upside of a younger player, but that Klingberg returns to the form of several years ago. The Ducks, albeit as a rebuilding team, made a similar bet last summer. They hoped to turn Klingberg into juicy assets but got back only a fourth-round pick and prospect at the deadline.
Reaves, meanwhile, will be among the older players in the league next season.
Two dicey bets for the Leafs as a crucial offseason kicks into full swing.
Stats and research courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey, Hockey Reference, and Cap Friendly
(Top photo by Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
—
Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
