TORONTO — This is an unvarnished opportunity for Rasmus Sandin.
In fact, if you’re a 19-year-old prospect aching for a NHL breakthrough, you can’t really hope for better.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, down their top two defencemen, suddenly need Sandin to munch minutes. And if he’s good enough, there’ll be a chance to play a lot of them in the absence of Jake Muzzin and Morgan Rielly.
His second NHL call-up comes with no artificial cap on playing time or concerns over contract control — although the Maple Leafs were never overly worried about him hitting the 10-game threshold this season and starting the clock on his entry-level deal.
That’s certain to happen now with Sandin about to dress for his seventh game against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, while Muzzin continues to wear a walking boot and Rielly faces at least an eight-week recovery from a fractured foot.
“I feel prepared and I’m looking forward to tonight,” Sandin said after an optional morning skate.
He will start on the third pairing alongside Cody Ceci, but that’s hardly set in stone. Until recently, Travis Dermott occupied that spot on the bottom pair and he’s one of the left-handed shots now ahead of Sandin in the rotation. The other is Martin Marincin, who has more healthy scratches (24) than games played (14) with the Leafs this season.
It’s not hard to envision Sandin moving up in the lineup if he plays well.
“We’ve got some question marks there, right?” said head coach Sheldon Keefe, who oversaw the first season of Sandin’s development in the American Hockey League. “How is Sandin going to adjust back in? And then how is he going to pair with Ceci, who he’s never played with? And how are the other pairs going to work out?
“I think when you’ve got two important pieces like this out, like we do, you’re going to have some new things that you’re trying and new opportunities that you’re giving guys. We’ll have to monitor it.”
Keep in mind that Sandin arrives brimming with confidence after a dominant performance for Sweden that earned him top defenceman honours at the world junior tournament. He’s also logged more than 25 minutes per night across all situations for the Marlies and has 15 points to show for 21 games.
A key tenet to his game is a poise that belies his age and relative inexperience.
Teammates raved about how calm and confident he was after breaking camp with the Leafs in the fall. Sandin doesn’t possess one obvious elite tool — he’s not the fastest, or most physically imposing, or known for having the hardest shot — but he displays an overall situational awareness that will probably have us one day wondering how 12 other defencemen were called to the stage before the Leafs drafted him 29th overall in 2018.
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What remains to be seen is how impactful he’s prepared to be in the here and now.
Only a small handful of his peers have done it. The last five NHL seasons have only seen 10 defencemen play at least 40 games as teenagers — and Sandin won’t be the 11th, with his 20th birthday coming March 7.
But he has had a developmental edge on many of the 2000-born North Americans in the form of 78 games of AHL experience. He even noticed a difference after getting sent back to the Marlies in mid-October.
“I think just gaining confidence, I feel like. That’s the biggest thing,” he said of where he’s grown. “I just feel more comfortable out there and I’m just playing my game.”
Sandin’s first stint with the Leafs was basically ended by a shoulder to the face from Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader. That left him bloodied and set off some soul-searching inside the organization, where they started to weigh the merits of only playing their top prospect 12 minutes per game while subjecting him to those situations.
The bet here is that he’s leaned on much more heavily now. There’s even a chance he’ll kill penalties and see a little time on the power play given that Rielly and Muzzin both log key specialty teams minutes.
“I mean he’s gonna be great here,” said Rielly. “I think it’s important that he has confidence and he goes out there and just plays true to his style of play. I think he’s an outstanding player with a great career on the horizon.
“I think that if that starts tonight that’s very exciting.”
The door has swung wide open for Sandin, and there’ll be nothing holding him back if he’s ready to stride on through.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves for his fourth career shutout and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on Saturday night.
Nils Hoglander, Brock Boeser and Kyle Sherwood scored for the Canucks, who spoiled Philadelphia’s home opener and the first NHL home game for top Flyers’ prospects Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko.
The Canucks controlled play for most of the game and took advantage of Philadelphia’s defensive breakdowns for a pair of goals.
Samuel Ersson made 29 saves for Philadelphia, which lost its fourth consecutive game (0-3-1) after winning its season opener against the Canucks in Vancouver.
TAKEAWAYS
Canucks: Tyler Myers picked up an assist on a nifty, no-look pass to Boeser. It was Myers’ 1,000th NHL game. Myers also had three shots on goal, blocked a pair of shots, finished the game plus-1 and led the Canucks in total time on ice at 21:54.
Flyers: In another milestone game, Philadelphia captain Sean Couturier played in his 800th career game. However, the veteran centre was demoted to the fourth line and on the left wing by coach John Tortorella before the game. Once the Flyers fell behind 3-0, Couturier was shifted back to centre, but he couldn’t spark the team’s offence.
KEY MOMENT
Vancouver scored twice in 50 seconds in the second period to pull away. Sherwood’s goal was a one-timer off a faceoff win by Teddy Blueger to make it 3-0.
KEY STAT
Minus 11, the Flyers’ goal differential in five games this season at even strength. Through five games they have now been outscored 17-6 at five-on-five. All three of Vancouver’s goals on Saturday were at even strength.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
NEW YORK (AP) — Noah Dobson scored in the ninth round of the shootout to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Bo Horvat, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee scored in regulation for the Islanders, and Dobson had two assists. Semyon Varlamov finished with 21 saves.
Cole Caulfield had two goals and Logan Mailloux also scored for Montreal. Cayden Primeau made 33 saves.
Palmieri and Simon Holmstron also scored for the Islanders in the shootout, and Oliver Kapanen and Emil Heineman tallied for Montreal.
Caufield forced overtime with 2:10 left in regulation to tie the score 3-3. It came 2:26 after Lee gave the Islanders the lead.
TAKEAWAYS
Canadiens: Mailloux scored his first NHL goal 59 seconds into the second period to tie the game 2-2.
Islanders: Entering the game, the Islanders’ 33 shots per game ranked third in the NHL but their average of 2.5 goals per game was 27th in the league. Horvat and Palmieri scored 2:26 apart late in the first period to give New York a 2-0 lead.
KEY MOMENT
Varlamov’s glove save on Caufield’s breakaway 5:44 into the second period kept the score tied 2-2.
KEY STAT
New York limited Montreal to 24 shots in the win. Through their first four games before Saturday night, the Islanders had held opponents to 29.3 shots per game, which was 13th in the NHL.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Islanders: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland finished 54 holes of the wind-delayed Shriners Children’s Open knowing he’ll have his best chance at winning since brain surgery more than a year ago. Best of all Saturday was being finished.
Woodland had three birdies over his final six holes and extended his bogey-free streak to 28 holes in polishing off a 6-under 65 that gave him a share of the clubhouse lead with Las Vegas resident Kurt Kitayama, who also had a 65.
They trailed J.T. Poston and Doug Ghim by one shot when play was suspended by darkness. Thirty of the 66 players who made the cut earlier Saturday did not finish.
Poston had an eagle during his closing stretch of the second round for a 65, and his only sub-par hole in the third round was an eagle on the par-5 ninth. It put him at 15-under par through 13 holes. Also at 15 under was Ghim, who had four straight birdies and was facing a five-foot par putt on the 17th hole when it was too dark to continue.
Woodland had surgery in September 2023 to remove a lesion on his brain, situated on a tract that caused fear and anxiety. It’s been a long road back of making progress with his health, getting dialed in on the right medication and trying to get his game in order.
He also went back to Randy Smith, the PGA Hall of Fame swing coach in Dallas. Now Woodland is sensing the pieces coming back together.
“I feel a lot better for one,” Woodland said. “That’s a huge help. But I’ve seen some signs. I’ve been back with Randy Smith for a couple months now. I am starting to drive it better, iron play, controlling the golf ball like I haven’t in a long time, which is nice. Then putts start going in, start putting some good scores up.
“I’m excited and happy to be here — and really happy to finish tonight so I can get some sleep tomorrow.”
The third round was to resume at 8 a.m., and Woodland likely will start around 11 a.m. That beats getting up before dawn, which he already has had to do twice this week.
Next to be determined is where he stands.
Harris English and Alejandro Tosti of Argentina also were at 14 under with four holes to play, including the reachable par 4 and the easiest of the three par 5s. Six other players were at 13 under and still had holes to play.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., only completed 13 holes on Saturday and sits two shots back of the leaders. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 44th at 5 under. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is tied for 61st at 3 under.
The wind has calmed substantially from Friday, when gusts approached 50 miles per hour and led to a four-hour delay that caused the stop-and-start and the last two days being suspended because of darkness. A TPC Summerlin course that was all about hanging on is now back to being a test of who can make the most birdies.
“Conditions will be pretty easy. I think you saw that with some of the scores,” Poston said. “Guys are making birdies. So I think it’s just trying to stay aggressive but also stay patient if the putts don’t fall early because there is a lot of holes left.”
The second round didn’t end until about noon Saturday and the cut was at 3-under 139. Among those who missed was Tom Kim, the two-time defending champion who was trying to become the first player since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic (2009-11) to win the same PGA Tour event three straight years.
Also missing the cut were the three winners in the FedEx Cup Fall — Patton Kizzire, Kevin Yu and Matt McCarty.
