Toronto Maple Leafs

[Dennis]

Leafs PR‏ @LeafsPR

Forward Nic Petan has been loaned to the @TorontoMarlies (AHL). #LeafsForever

[kgray]

Sounds like JT should be back as soon as Saturday with Hyman maybe later next week. Lots of fringe roster moves coming - curious about people's thoughts on who stays and who goes, barring some trade. Petan going down was the easy one - remaining players will need to go through waivers. Should be safe for Marincin (I think), however Timashov and to a lesser extent Shore not so much. Is Spezza going to get released? He has been playing better lately. That said, I cannot see any way they can keep him and Gauthier who has looked waaaaay better this year (although he still seems to lack decent strength/balance for a big body).

What say you?

[2014olympicgold]

They have $992,017 in space right now. Needing to free up $1,257,983 for Hyman.

My guess is Marincin gets waived. Cap space now up to $1,692,017. $557,983 away from being able to bring Hyman back.

Looking at the forwards, the only one that isn't pulling his weight is Spezza. However, he's a 35+yr old contract. Meaning if he's waived and ends up on the Marlies, the Leafs have no savings. So it won't be him unless he's waived, then mutually terminate the contract. Looking at the team, might end up being Shore, or Mikheyev gets sent down as he can go down without waivers as they figure things out. But that's something that shouldn't happen as he 100% deserves to be in the NHL.

So, Marincin and Shore maybe? Muzzin might be hurt too, which complicates things

Practice lines:
Moore-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Kapanen
Timashov-Shore-Gauthier
Rielly-Holl
Dermott-Ceci
Marincin-Barrie

Marincin/Barrie might just be the placeholder for Muzzin (Muzzin is there, just in a red jersey).

[kgray]

Interesting - I did not realize the 'old-man' contract clause was a thing. You would think from Spezza's perspective that he would rather not terminate his contract as I do not see too many teams lining up to sign him. Then again - back-room deals do exist so perhaps they give him some sort of incentive and get him to agree.

Following up - do you see Marincin being claimed?
Also - is it just me or has Spezza looked better the last week/week and a half? Not just talking about the lucky assists, his line has been out for some good shifts cycling the puck and getting zone time. I think I want to see more before cutting bait...

[2014olympicgold]

Spezza took a discount apparently to sign with the Leafs. I'm sure a team out there would still be interested. But who knows. There's not many teams that can take someone one that would. Spezza owns a full NTC, and with it being a 35+ contract, it's practically a full NMC.

[2014olympicgold]

Petan recalled after posting 5pts in 2games with the Marlies. Must mean Hyman isn't as close to returning as originally thought.

Muzzin's first game vs LA, Barries 500th NHL game is also tonight.

[lucafen4]

As much as this team hasn't looked good or great this season - they're battling in every game & gaining points, even if it's the loser point.
Times in the past they would play great and get nothing.
This team will go on a roll. They'll get some bounces. These early, 'bad points' will pay dividends.

Have to go back to Ovie's comments though - he's right. He changed the way he played - himself vs team - then it took a couple loses to Pitts before they broke through
The kids haven't figured it all out yet. Can they though?

[Dennis]

Dave McCarthy‏ @DaveAMcCarthy

John Tavares says he will play tonight vs #gokingsgo Missed past seven games with a broken finger. #LeafsForever went 3-2-2 without him.

[lucafen4]

Dave McCarthy‏ @DaveAMcCarthy

it's amazing how little of a difference Tavares has made on this team in terms of standings or results.
We were basically 3-2-2 with him and not playing better defensively.

18/19 the team was 46-28-8 - 100 pts WITH JT
17/18 the team was 49-26-7 - 105 pts WITHOUT JT

One would think adding a pt/gm #1C to a line up would result in a + net point gain.
When will hockey adopt their version of baseballs WAR? I mean - 20min/gm should translate to positive results? ... no?

[ericdaoust]

When will hockey adopt their version of baseballs WAR? I mean - 20min/gm should translate to positive results? ... no?

It's possible for Tavares to have a positive impact AND for the rest of the roster to not perform as well, leading to the five-point drop. Doesn't have to be one extreme or the other.

[2014olympicgold]

If you believe in "Point Shares" (Hockeys equivalent to WAR), JT was responsible for 11.3pts the Leafs had last yr (0.138/game), this yr it's at 0.6 (0.075/game). If you don't believe in it, it at least helps show he was good.

He's definitely helping the team win, where there's other anchors holding them down. So the better question is, was JTs contract more beneficial to the team than what the 11mill would have been spent on.

[2014olympicgold]

Petan and Marincin waived. Need to waive 1 more person to bring back Hyman.

My guess is tonight is the last audition for Timashov, Spezza, and Shore for Hyman coming back Saturday, maybe Sunday.

[Axeman33]

I'll be surprised if it's not Spezza.

[2014olympicgold]

I'll be surprised if it's not Spezza.

I'd guess it would be waive for mutual termination because he's a 35+yr old contract. You can't bury those in the AHL to help your NHL cap problems I'm pretty sure.

[Dennis]

I think you can. I could be wrong but I believe 35+ cap penalties only apply to multi-year contracts.