Tonight is game three, the first in Tampa, and for the Leafs to advance, they now need at least one win on the road. Their best chance is to get it while Hedman and Sernac are still off the field or at least healthy enough to play. You were hoping to see Leafs take advantage of the situation a bit, but when have we seen Leafs do anything the easy way?
Here are some other stray Leafs ideas that will help you get through the game.
discount wings
It’s definitely worth remembering that not every prospect, but much to the delight of Leafs fans, Matthew Kniss has truly demonstrated that he can be a serviceable NHLer even when he’s not on the scoresheet. He took advantage of his opportunity to join Bunting and it appears that Aston-Reese and Lafferty have also taken note of how good Knies is and have upped their game to prove their case to stay in the line-up when Bunting returns for Game 5.
The fates of the banners and the synagogue have been restricted in another way. One of Bunting’s big selling points has always been that he’s in the top six and doesn’t cost much. This summer it all doesn’t cost much to disappear. Once again, enter Matthew Knes. Toronto now appears to have the luxury of sitting out a bidding war for Bunting and still feeling confident they have someone who can supply the top six with a good, affordable left winger. Couple that with Jarnkrok to do a lot of that too and hopefully a healthy Nick Robertson is ready to prove himself next year and the Leafs can really head into their best years in the competition window since they have a decent amount of cap space to spend elsewhere.
That’s not to say the Leafs shouldn’t treat this moment like it’s their last shot at the cup, but there’s a lot to be optimistic about when looking at this team’s future as well.
Moving the puck is the potential key to victory
I’m not sure if Morgan Rielly’s four-point night put a very good point on the linebackers’ moving puck value, but it made me wonder if there was some value in giving Erik Gustafsson a look in the near future as well.
Gustafsson, in a protected role, could be too much trouble for the bottom six Lightning forwards who don’t have speed skating as one of their consistent traits. If Toronto can get that group chasing the puck more and not being able to stop themselves at the end of the ice in Toronto, the Leafs might isolate them more than they would get from the Giordano Hall pairing.
Anyway, going 7-2, I don’t think you’re tinkering with the lineup much, but I’m curious if we see Gustafsson and/or Lillegren force Tampa to skate some more.
Just some food for thought
In fact, the odds are still better that Kyle Dubas is the Leafs’ general manager next season, and if that’s the case, the odds are also good that Sheldon Keef is the coach. If it doesn’t work out this way, I wonder how much more the Leafs believe in their internal candidates than in wanting to look externally for replacements.
When it comes to coaches I’m sure the Leafs are just as curious as a lot of the terminology about interviewing Eric Tulsky and when it comes to coaches the Leafs can check out the best of the bunch as well but is there also value in looking at Gilman as a candidate for GM and Carberry As a potential training candidate before going elsewhere? From Shanahan’s perspective, I think there’s probably a lot of value in going with guys he knows and can let him assert his last word in Hockey Ops. And from a Leafs player retention standpoint, is there value going into those crucial free agency years with a familiar coach and general manager who knows exactly where to start negotiations?
I’d imagine if Dubas left I’m willing to bet on the Leafs, especially on the GM side of things Don’t hesitate. Whether it’s Gilman’s company or someone else’s, organizational knowledge is an undervalued asset they’ll want to take advantage of. And if one of the selling points for the Capitals is to bring Carberry back to coach their team, what does that mean for his value to the Leafs?
All that said, I’m not pushing Dubas out and the best case scenario is that he’s back with his operation in hand.