VANCOUVER — Look back to October at the lineup the Maple Leafs dressed in their season opener and you can see how much things have changed now that the trade deadline has come and gone.
This was the group that head coach Sheldon Keefe rolled out on Oct. 12 against Montreal.
Oct. 12 lineup
Line
LW
C
RW
Aston-Reese
Aube-Kubel
It’s quite a bit different from what’s available to Keefe after all of GM Kyle Dubas’ deal-making. “This is the year we have to put it all together and get rolling,” Dubas said. “We’ve tried to arm them to do so.”
Line
LW
C
RW
Aston-Reese
Gustafsson
The Leafs lose something in the Jake Muzzin/Jake McCabe swap, but the defence as a whole is deeper, larger and better equipped physically for the postseason. More experienced, too (albeit without Muzzin).
A top six that started with Denis Malgin can now, at its best, include Ryan O’Reilly. That is a rather large upgrade, to say the least. Alex Kerfoot is no longer required in the middle.
In the bottom six, Dubas has ultimately swapped out Pierre Engvall and Nicolas Aube-Kubel for Sam Lafferty and Noel Acciari. Those are two harder, heavier and generally more competitive dudes who can both play centre, kill penalties and be on the ice late in a close game.
“It’s easy for me to say, but I think the game (Thursday) night sort of exemplifies the difference of the team,” Dubas said of the Leafs’ comeback win in Calgary, which included the team’s best third period of the season in Keefe’s estimation. “Just a little bit more competitive, a little bit more sacrifice. Willing to put themselves on the line to win pucks. Do the right things defensively that aren’t necessarily the fanciest or sexiest things in the game, but they contribute to winning. I just sense that with the players that we’ve added, and also with the growth of some of the guys internally, we’re just far better in that realm.”
What about the somewhat precarious situation in goal? What about all those defenders — all nine of them?
Let’s dig into how Dubas explained the Leafs’ approach to the deadline.
No new goalies
The Leafs did not add another goalie before the deadline, either to upgrade the position or insure themselves against injury.
“When looking at it, I think the question is how confident are you that they can do it in the end and pull through,” Dubas said, referring of course to winning the Stanley Cup. “And Matt has done it in the past, and there weren’t really other guys available that have. And we believe in the potential of Ilya and Joe both.”
If not a goalie with Murray’s Cup credentials, the Leafs could have added a more experienced No. 3, someone to push Woll down the depth chart a peg. Someone to step in and fill the backup role in the event of an injury to either Murray or Samsonov. That was the idea when they acquired David Rittich a couple seasons ago.
The Leafs decided against bringing in that guy last year, rolling with Källgren as Jack Campbell’s backup in the playoffs. Clearly, they’re comfortable going the same route again if necessary — presumably with Woll.
Woll has put together a superb year. He’s 14-1-0 with the Marlies, with a .931 save percentage. He’s won two of his three starts as a Leaf this season, including the win over the Flames on Thursday. And yet, turning his way for one reason or another in a playoff series would be dicey given his limited NHL experience.
Really, this is going to come down — still — to Murray and Samsonov and whether the Leafs can get enough from one — or more likely, both — to win four rounds in the playoffs. It’s still a gigantic question mark even with Samsonov putting together the best season of his career and looking like the guy at the moment.
Said Dubas: “The things we were looking for from him was how would he respond when things weren’t going well? And how would he recover when he got into bad stretches, like any young goaltender? And he’s done an excellent job of that.”
Ilya Samsonov. (Dan Hamilton / USA Today)
Samsonov has lost back-to-back starts once all season. One more win and he’ll match a career high.
For what it’s worth, he’s registered just one win in seven career playoff starts. Which means his first-round opponent in goal, Andrei Vasilevskiy, will enter the series with more Stanley Cups (two) than Samsonov has playoffs wins. Which may or may not matter. That’s also assuming he beats out Murray for the starting job initially. Point is, Samsonov has to prove himself when it really matters (though he is only in his fourth NHL season so it’s not like he’s had a lot of opportunities).
The guy who has done it — twice — has been injured for most of the season. Twenty-six games in all that Murray has missed. If he gets the go-ahead medically, Murray will make his first start since Jan. 17 when the Leafs play in Vancouver on Saturday.
The Leafs made their bets in goal last summer. One (Samsonov) is paying off so far. The other (Murray), not so much to this point. The playoffs are all that will matter in the end.
Changes on D
“What did we lack?” Dubas said the front office wondered when pondering the acquisition of Schenn. “And we just felt on the back end, having that one more (player with) size and strength, (a) physical defender who’s been through it before, has that experience, was going to be really important for us.”
Just about everyone on the defence now is at least 6 feet and around 200 pounds, bigger in some cases.
Dubas said the Leafs could have netted a second-draft pick in the swap that sent Rasmus Sandin to Washington on top of the first-rounder. They opted for more depth in Gustafsson, intrigued especially with his abilities on the power play.
Gustafsson sits just inside the top 40 NHL defencemen with 46 power-play points since the start of the 2018-19 season, a big chunk coming during his monster 60-point season (18-19) with Chicago.
He had 11 power-play assists with the Caps before the trade.
Gustafsson still feels like the eighth option in this bunch. But the fact that he can move the puck, play both the left and right sides, run a power-play unit if needed, and not get rolled over physically makes him at least an option in a playoff series.
There’s this too: Gustafsson has 31 games of playoff experience (playing marginal minutes).
(Of note: Dubas said the Leafs might well decide to move the first-rounder in June. Or, of course, just make the pick.)
It was mildly surprising that the front office decided not to move anyone from the bunch on defence that runs nine deep.
“We’ve had some arduous times in terms of who’s been available for our D,” Dubas said of the rationale. “And I’d rather have the guys (available) and sort through a little bit of competition. I don’t think the competition hurts them in terms of having to be at your best every night. That pressure, I think, will set us up for what we’re going to encounter come playoff time in terms of what’s expected each night.”
Dubas was referring to November and December of this season when Muzzin, Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie were all out with injuries at various points. That led to the Leafs playing Victor Mete with Mac Hollowell for a stretch of games.
Mete, Carl Dahlstrom and Benn were also unavailable at certain points (the whole season in Dahlstrom’s case).
In other words, the Leafs didn’t want to take any chances.
And, as Dubas noted, rosters expand now, which means the Leafs can bring up a 13th forward if they so choose. (Bobby McMann?)
Also worth noting …
• Dubas acknowledged what’s long been suspected with Auston Matthews: “As everyone knows, he’s played through some injuries and things that have hampered him. But in terms of his impact on the game and the way that he’s helped our team, I’m very happy with the season that he’s had. How he’s competed and battled defensively. The growth that he’s taken as an overall player, it’s all been very, very good. If this is a down season for him offensively, that’s a really good sign in terms of how great a player he is. And the other guys in the group have all stepped up, and that’s why you commit to that core group. When one isn’t at the level that they expect in one specific area, the others tend to step up and help them.”
• On O’Reilly’s early impact: “He’s been everything that we thought when we acquired him, and everything Doug Armstrong said he was, and anyone who’s had him before said he was.”
• The Leafs brought in six new players via trade in the two weeks before the deadline. Dubas said the front office was cognizant of how much change that was to the roster, but added, “I do have a lot of faith, with what I’ve seen from the players when they’re outside the lens of the public and we’re together, that they could handle bringing in some new guys. And one of the new guys has been here before and knows a lot of the staff and I think has a reputation as one of the better character and quality people in hockey.” That player, of course, would be Schenn.
• On the likelihood of playing Tampa in Round 1: “We played them last year, they’re a championship organization every day. So we know how hard it’s going to be. The easiest way to put it is hard things are hard. And so what we’re about to try to do is going to be extremely difficult and we have to ready ourselves.”
(Top photo of Kyle Dubas: Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images)
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.
Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.
After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.
“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”
Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.
“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”
Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.
Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.
Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.
Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.
Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.
Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.
Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.
Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.
Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.
That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.
“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”
Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.
Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.
PARIS (AP) — French judicial authorities are investigating the disappearance of two Paralympic athletes from Congo who recently competed in the Paris Games, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny confirmed on Thursday.
Prosecutors opened the investigation on Sept. 7, after members of the athletes’ delegation warned authorities of their disappearance two days before.
Le Parisien newspaper reported that shot putter Mireille Nganga and Emmanuel Grace Mouambako, a visually impaired sprinter who was accompanied by a guide, went missing on Sept. 5, along with a third person.
The athletes’ suitcases were also gone but their passports remained with the Congolese delegation, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the case.
The Paralympic Committee of the Democratic Republic of Congo did not respond to requests for information from The Associated Press.
Nganga — who recorded no mark in the seated javelin and shot put competitions — and Mouambako were Congo’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, organizers said.
An investigator gave the World Anti-Doping Agency a pass on its handling of the inflammatory case involving Chinese swimmers, but not without hammering away at the “curious” nature of WADA’s “silence” after examining Chinese actions that did not follow rules designed to safeguard global sports.
WADA on Thursday released the full decision from Eric Cottier, the Swiss investigator it appointed to analyze its handling of the case involving the 23 Chinese swimmers who remained eligible despite testing positive for performance enhancers in 2021.
In echoing wording from an interim report issued earlier this summer, Cottier said it was “reasonable” that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency’s explanation that the positives came from contamination.
“Taking into consideration the particularities of the case, (WADA) appears … to have acted in accordance with the rules it has itself laid out for anti-doping organizations,” Cottier wrote.
But peppered throughout his granular, 56-page analysis of the case was evidence and reminders of how WADA disregarded some of China’s violations of anti-doping protocols. Cottier concluded this happened more for the sake of expediency than to show favoritism toward the Chinese.
“In retrospect at least, the Agency’s silence is curious, in the face of a procedure that does not respect the fundamental rules, and its lack of reaction is surprising,” Cottier wrote of WADA’s lack of fealty to the world anti-doping code.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and one of WADA’s fiercest critics, latched onto this dynamic, saying Cottier’s information “clearly shows that China did not follow the rules, and that WADA management did nothing about it.”
One of the chief complaints over the handling of this case was that neither WADA nor the Chinese gave any public notice upon learning of the positive tests for the banned heart medication Temozolomide, known as TMZ.
The athletes also were largely kept in the dark and the burden to prove their innocence was taken up by Chinese authorities, not the athletes themselves, which runs counter to what the rulebook demands.
Despite the criticisms, WADA generally welcomed the report.
“Above all, (Cottier) reiterated that WADA showed no bias towards China and that its decision not to appeal the cases was reasonable based on the evidence,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said. “There are however certainly lessons to be learned by WADA and others from this situation.”
Tygart said “this report validates our concerns and only raises new questions that must be answered.”
Cottier expanded on doubts WADA’s own chief scientist, Olivier Rabin, had expressed over the Chinese contamination theory — snippets of which were introduced in the interim report. Rabin was wary of the idea that “a few micrograms” of TMZ found in the kitchen at the hotel where the swimmers stayed could be enough to cause the group contamination.
“Since he was not in a position to exclude the scenario of contamination with solid evidence, he saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities,” Cottier wrote.
Though recommendations for changes had been expected in the report, Cottier made none, instead referring to several comments he’d made earlier in the report.
Key among them were his misgivings that a case this big was largely handled in private — a breach of custom, if not the rules themselves — both while China was investigating and after the file had been forwarded to WADA. Not until the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported on the positives were any details revealed.
“At the very least, the extraordinary nature of the case (23 swimmers, including top-class athletes, 28 positive tests out of 60 for a banned substance of therapeutic origin, etc.), could have led to coordinated and concerted reflection within the Agency, culminating in a formal and clearly expressed decision to take no action,” the report said.
WADA’s executive committee established a working group to address two more of Cottier’s criticisms — the first involving what he said was essentially WADA’s sloppy recordkeeping and lack of formal protocol, especially in cases this complex; and the second a need to better flesh out rules for complex cases involving group contamination.
