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)
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
