The NHL operates under a restrictive salary cap, absolutely. All 31 franchises must play by those rules.
But if you’re the mighty Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, and if you can flood the gates and fill the sushi plates in good times and in bad, there are ways to colour outside the lines, to flex your financial muscle in the corners.
Consider the two young players on the rise general manager Kyle Dubas has traded in recent days to address his present issues of backup goaltending and bottom-six depth.
Speaking coldly (because, hey, it’s a business), both Trevor Moore and Mason Marchment — the pieces Dubas dealt for immediate help in the form of Jack Campbell, Kyle Clifford and Malgin — were found money.
Moore and Marchment arrived four years ago as raw, undrafted players the Leafs’ expensive and expert development team poured hours into moulding into NHL potential.
The late-blooming Marchment, who didn’t start playing major junior until 19 years of age, signed his AHL contract with Toronto back in 2016. The Leafs pounced on Moore that same year, after the spark plug turned heads at the University of Denver.
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By rolling out one of the league’s deepest scouting and development staffs and investing time into refining individual skills, Toronto can afford to take more flyers on athletes with upside and has smartly been able to churn out prospects they can either promote or flip.
“Marchment’s a guy that I’ve worked with a lot, and he’s put in a ton of work on himself,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s a great kid that’s put in a ton of work and really worked at his game. That’s a credit to him for putting the work in, for our development staff, and the Marlies organization for the work that they put in to develop an undrafted player that we’re able to trade for an NHL asset.
“We found a way to get a younger player with more NHL experience and more ready to contribute right now.”
Enter Malgin, No. 62 in your program because that’s the number he was handed at a Florida Panthers training camp, and — woo-hoo! — he made the cut.
At 23, he’s younger than Marchment, 24, but carries more big-league experience, scoring 60 points in 184 games for the Panthers before Dale Tallon granted a reported trade request from Malgin’s agent, Petr Svoboda, and shipped him to Toronto.
Upon being trotted out to face the biggest media scrum of his life, Malgin sheepishly denied asking out himself Thursday, but perhaps we’re getting into semantics.
“I didn’t want to leave Florida. I don’t know what they were thinking,” Malgin said. “It was a surprise. But now I’m here, and the goal is to make the playoffs.”
What Florida was thinking is that Malgin — undersized at five-foot-nine and 177 pounds — was not establishing himself as a force in a talent-rich top six, nor was he bringing the necessary ingredients to convince new coach Joel Quenneville that he fulfilled the three-time champion’s vision for a bottom-six winger.
Keefe, meanwhile, has been happy to broadcast with his desire for bottom-of-the-lineup depth since Ilya Mikheyev hit injured reserve.
Tinkering almost nightly, Keefe has been craving more trustworthy contributions from a rotating cast that has seen in-season tryouts for a list of tweeners like Pontus Aberg, Nic Petan, Egor Korshkov, Adam Brooks and Marchment.
Of this cluster, only Pierre Engvall has transcended to the status of Leafs regular.
There’s certainly no guarantee Malgin, who turns RFA on July 1, sticks. But starting Thursday, in a critical game against Pittsburgh, he’ll get his crack.
“When I was a little kid, I always wanted to play in Montreal or Toronto,” said the native of Olten, Switzerland. “Now I’m here, and I’m excited.”
Part of why he’s here, not unlike Campbell or Clifford, is because of familiarity.
Leafs assistant coach Paul McFarland worked closely with Malgin for two seasons in Florida and speaks highly of his competitive streak and ability to keep pace with elite playmakers.
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And Auston Matthews and Malgin formed a bond as the two youngest pros on the 2015-16 Zurich Lions, keeping in touch when their paths have crossed since.
“I just tried to make contact with him because he was a younger guy too,” Malgin said. “We had some fun together.”
Matthews describes his reunited teammate as small but skilled.
“Really shifty and elusive. A good skater and sees the ice well. So, nice to have a familiar face around the locker room,” Matthews said. “He’s somebody that likes to work on his game quite a bit, so it’ll be good to have a guy like him here, and I’m sure he’ll fit in just fine.”
Captain John Tavares, too, sees an alignment between Malgin and the Leafs’ style of play under the Dubas/Keefe regime.
“Anytime you get to a new situation, you get a new opportunity,” Tavares said, “it gives you good life, good jump.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
