TORONTO – Kyle Dubas could’ve acquired Alex Galchenyuk for nothing off the waiver wire and elected not to.
That the general manager chose instead to spend a couple of mid-tier assets — forward Egor Koshkov, 24, and defenceman David Warofsky, 30 — speaks volumes about the Toronto Maple Leafs’ desire for flexibility in its bottom six and with its salary cap.
Simply put: A Galchenyuk who no longer needs waivers to slide back and forth from Toronto’s lineup to its taxi squad is worth giving up on a bruising prospect in Korshkov who has yet to stick as an NHLer.
Remember, Dubas has already lost one asset, goalie Aaron Dell, to waivers. And another one, Pierre Engvall, just played a game Monday that cost him his waiver-exempt status.
Under a flat cap, flexibility and depth have grown paramount. And a hesitancy to commit too deep to a 27-year-old, who has now bounced to his seventh NHL franchise, seems only logical.
Another small bonus here is that because Galchenyuk had yet to travel to the U.S. after his weekend trade from Ottawa to the Carolina Hurricanes, the forward can simply remain in Ontario and neither party has to twiddle thumbs during a 14-day quarantine.
Following Monday’s embarrassing 6-5 collapse to the Senators, Sheldon Keefe was still wrapping his head around the trade.
The head coach could not be faulted for being in no mood to sing the praises of the club’s newest addition; he was still fuming at the current players’ carelessness.
“He’s another depth option for us to come in,” Keefe said of Galchenyuk. “We’ve been looking to find a mix in our bottom six. He’s one of those guys that will compete for a spot like that.”
The deal was finalized so close to puck drop that Dubas and Keefe had not yet had a discussion of where Galchenyuk would fit in their lineup, and we’d imagine the Milwaukee native will need some time to get up to speed with the Leafs’ development staff.
But if there is a coach patient enough to find a fit for a highly touted and talented forward who’s been on a downward slide since his 30-goal, 56-point pinnacle with the Montreal Canadiens in 2015-16, it may just be Keefe.
Just as Galchenyuk has floundered in search of his niche, the Maple Leafs have not been able to trot out a trusted bottom-six forward group with any consistency since Keefe’s arrival 15 months ago.
A pessimist would argue that Galchenyuk can’t be too useful if the worst club in the league couldn’t use him. That he is only getting a seventh shot in the world’s best league because he’s a top-three pick (2012). Or because Dubas loves betting on skill and has never shied away from a small cap hit (Galchenyuk’s is $1.05 million) with plenty to prove.
Once again, the GM is spinning a low-risk, high-reward roulette wheel that, when spun often enough, has its hits (Wayne Simmonds), its misses (Alexander Barabanov) and its pushes (Jimmy Vesey).
The only way the Leafs lose this deal is if Galchenyuk flops and Korshkov — who is enjoying a career-best season (31 points through 53 games) for KHL Lokomotiv — returns to North America and becomes a Canes player.
But what Dubas has in his corner is an open-minded coach willing to experiment, to give a little leash to fresh recruits in hopes they take off.
If there is a path to unlocking Galchenyuk’s A-game, Keefe will work at forging it.
Just this season, Keefe began by giving Vesey a plum top-six role on John Tavares’ wing. He threw Simmonds on the top power-play unit and veteran Joe Thornton beside a pair of all-world offensive players entering their prime. For a spell, he was willing to scratch a defenceman he trusted (Travis Dermott) for one yet to earn that trust (Mikko Lehtonen).
Rest assured, Galchenyuk will get his looks. And his history of finding ways to produce — albeit in bursts and busts — while playing centre or either wing increases the options with which Keefe can experiment.
Galchenyuk scored one goal and averaged a career-low 9:30 of ice time in his eight games played before the Senators gave up on him.
He’s in danger of playing himself out of the league. Now he’s been given a shot to stick with a club that is placing a premium on urgency and wants to make its regular season meaningful.
Galchenyuk can take someone’s job in this town, but it’ll be up to him to decide if how bad he wants to.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
