It is Trade Deadline Day, and the last week has been a busy one. There are several trades in the process of happening or that have been done. Including your Toronto Maple Leafs! They made their first move to acquire Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 24, and they traded for Joel Edmundson from the Washington Capitals on March 7.
General manager (GM) Brad Treliving got the Capitals to retain 50 percent of Edmundson’s cap hit to bring it down to $875,000. This only means that Treliving and his staff may have more trades up their sleeves that would improve their team. However, if there were more trades to be made, then it would mean the Maple Leafs would need to move roster players out to make the money work. Things are looking bare in the Maple Leafs’ draft pick cabinet, which may make trades more difficult to make, but we know that all 32 NHL GMs can get creative, and that is what the Maple Leafs will need to do if they want to make more changes to their roster.
Related: Meet the Newest Maple Leafs Defenceman: Joel Edmundson
Even though things have been busy for Treliving and the other GMs around the NHL, there was still a game to be played between the Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs came out on the losing end, again to the Bruins by a score of 4-1. Even though they lost, they didn’t give up physically and stood their ground. So let’s get to some takeaways from the game last night.
The “Snot” Affect
When Treliving announced that the Maple Leafs had signed Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, and Ryan Reaves, there was so much excitement about the change in direction of the team. That excitement carried into the season and, after a while, died off because these three players struggled. That excitement turned into criticism very quickly, and it felt like Reaves would end up in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Toronto Marlies. As for Domi and Bertuzzi, it seemed that they could have been moved because it wasn’t working out. However, both head coach Sheldon Keefe and Treliving stood pat on why they brought them here and were going to keep them for the playoffs.
Well, last night against the Bruins was a perfect example of that. The game was a precursor to what both teams could see in six weeks when the playoffs start, and it did not disappoint. It was one of only a handful of games where you truly felt the Maple Leafs needed to take a stand and fight back. The other game that comes to mind in recent memory was against the Anaheim Ducks when they were beating them and Radko Gudas started running around. This time, the Bruins were winning but still trying to stir the pot. In the past, this has been one of those games when you think that Toronto is going to roll over and give up because it was extremely physical. But they didn’t do that. They stood up for one another, fought back, and even came out on top in the fighting department.
From the jump, things heated up. Jake McCabe started the game by sending a cross-check to the face of Brad Marchand and then doubled down and did it to another Bruin when they approached him. This had the Bruins players incensed, and from that moment on, the fight was on, literally. Every chance Boston got, they attempted to finish their check or tried to cause scrums after the whistles, which had the Maple Leafs engaged physically. It all came to a head when Marchand and Matthew Knies ran into each other, and Knies had to leave the game. There is a sense that Knies’ teammates felt Marchand may have done it on purpose.
Related: Ilya Lyubushkin’s Promising Start with the Maple Leafs
This game eventually would boil over, and we saw Bertuzzi and Parker Wotherspoon drop the gloves, which had every other player on the ice paired off with an opponent; however, only one fight happened. Later in the game, Domi attempted to get revenge on Marchand, but it was unsuccessful as Marchand was up to his old antics and fell to the ground as quickly as possible. Domi later got into a fight; he dropped the gloves with Charlie McAvoy, which then saw Trent Frederic try and engage William Nylander in a fight, but McCabe and Bertuzzi came to his defence. As for Reaves, he was trying all game to engage the Bruins; he was throwing hits and was caught a few times on the broadcast yelling at players. This is exactly what you want to see from the players who were brought in to be the “snot” of the team.
Down With Sickness
Keefe mentioned at practice yesterday that there is another flu bug going through the room. As a result, we have seen David Kampf be questionable for games, and McCabe missed the last one against the Buffalo Sabres. But we have also seen players appear to be battling a potential sickness while still being in the lineup and trying to give 100 percent. One player that comes to mind when you think of a drop in production is Auston Matthews.
Doesn’t he seem to be off? When they were on the western road trip to Arizona, Vegas, etc., it seemed that he was confident he could get 72 goals, or even 80. Now, it seems that he gets lost on the ice, and his teammates aren’t able to find him open. This could be a direct correlation between him being on a tear and opposing teams covering him more closely. But it could also indicate that there may be something that Matthews has been dealing with over the last week. If I had to guess, he has been battling the flu with whatever is going through the dressing room, and it has affected his play.
Overall, this is a game that Leafs Nation shouldn’t hold much weight towards. They are sick and battling something that’s keeping them from being 100 percent. They also did something that we haven’t seen in years. They stood up for themselves and weren’t afraid to drop the gloves or get engaged physically. That is something that we will need to get used to seeing. But could you imagine how players like Matthews, Nylander, or Mitch Marner feel? They finally have a team of players that you feel you can go to war with, and after a game like last night in Boston, you bond. Bonding with your teammates is important; being a tight-knit group can help keep you honest and get you to the Stanley Cup Final. Although they lost, it was a great stepping stone, especially with the playoffs in six weeks or less.