A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Hot book recommendation: Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the 18,000 Missing Bobbleheads.
1. Asked at the conclusion of Friday’s scrum if the Toronto Maple Leafs will be sticking with the red-hot Ilya Samsonov in net Saturday against Carolina Hurricanes, a Stanley Cup contender that appears even more legit with a couple of high-end trade deadline additions, Sheldon Keefe kept his cards close to the vest.
“We’ll see,” the coach responded.
More often than not, Keefe’s Leafs have been forthcoming with the status of their starting goaltender. (Some teams prefer to keep fans and opponents guessing.)
Perhaps unintentionally, Keefe is noncommittal on the mirco — Who knows who starts the next one? — doubles as a comment on the macro: Who knows who gets to start the big one?
That would be the first game of Round 1, which is zipping toward the organization quicker than David Pastrnak’s wrister.
Do the Leafs go with the guy who backstopped them to their first series win in a generation? Even though that same guy cleared waivers midseason amid a crisis of confidence and a series of mercy pulls?
Or do they put their initial trust in poised Joseph Woll, the emerging franchise stud, the one whose technique gets more love from goalie experts and has the only NHL-level goalie under contract for next season? Even though he’s still finding his groove from a lengthy midseason ankle rehab?
Woll has always felt like the goaltender whom management and the coach believe in with less wavering.
Yet pending UFA Samsonov has been out here stopping pucks for two months now like his livelihood depends on it. Perhaps because, well, it totally does.
That Samsonov was the first goalie given consecutive starts since Woll returned from injured reserve was notable. That he was solid once more (albeit lightly tested) in Philadelphia Thursday, improving to 13-2 over his past 15 games and buffing up his March save percentage to .933 is also notable.
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Is this the best Samsonov has played, Coach?
“This season, for sure,” Keefe said. “He is more like himself, as we came to expect last season. It is a huge part of our group right now.”
Woll is not forgotten here, though he hasn’t started in nine days and gave up eight goals in last week’s double dose of the Boston Bruins, Toronto’s most likely first-round foe.
The less-experienced Woll has better numbers overall than Samsonov, both this season (.911) and over his brief career (.916).
Choosing between two healthy, capable netminders is a good problem to have — except if you subscribe to the old playoff theory that if you have two No. 1 netminders, you have none.
We say, let ’em battle it out. See if one emerges as The Man over the final 17 starts.
Go with the hot hand. And don’t worry about hurt feelings or galaxy-braining plans for next year.
When Keefe & Co. make their decision for Game 1, they should treat it the way both Woll and Samsonov do their jobs: Just focus on stopping the next puck.
2. David Savard’s first game post-deadline was last Saturday at home against the Maple Leafs — a team in search of a right defenceman of his profile and one that inquired about a trade for him.
Yes, even though Savard, who has another season on his deal with the rebuilding Montreal Canadiens, understood his chances of being dealt last week were slim, the thought crossed his mind: He could’ve been getting ready in the Bell Centre’s visitors’ quarters.
“They weren’t trying to shop me too much, but I definitely heard all the names, and you have people calling you or telling you all these things,” Savard says. “I’m trying to block it out, in a way. I know it’s part of the business. And it would definitely be weird … if I were in that dressing room, but those things happen.”
Savard is pleased that Montreal’s trade price got set so high; the Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., native is relieved to stay put.
“If we got the call, we get the call — and we’ll figure it out,” Savard says. “But I think we kind of had a sense that they weren’t trying to throw me anywhere.”
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3. OK, let’s get this straight.
The NHL wants its officials to crack down on coaches vocalizing their displeasure with their calls. Sheldon Keefe, Don Granato, Greg Cronin and John Tortorella have all been fined and/or ejected for venting their frustrations with too much vigour this season.
The league warned its coaches before the season about abusing the stripes and is following through to keep them accountable.
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By the same token, the refs themselves aren’t held to account publicly.
Unlike other major leagues, NHL officials are not available to a pool reporter post-game to explain controversial decisions or mistakes, the way coaches and players are.
But we’re expected to get a kick out of a mic’d-up referee or linesman hamming up a penalty call or video review decision on occasion because, Hey, it shows personality!
Nah. We’re not getting a kick out of the “fun ref” if we can’t question the “serious ref.”
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4. If Rod Brind’Amour isn’t the ideal coach to help steer Evgeni Kuznetsov (at a reduced rate) back on the road to success, we’re not sure there is one.
The dynamic Russian has labelled his newfound 16-month commitment to the Hurricanes as his last chance, and I loved everything about the night he scored his first in Carolina.
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Brind’Amour came into the dressing room after the win, saying how he used to hate the expressive centreman’s “birdman” celebration. Now he loves it. They all do.
Kuznetsov himself sounds like a man with a fresh lease on life, not just another shot at the post-season.
“I just want to say thanks to the fans. I almost cry a little bit,” the players’ assistance program graduate said post-game. “I’ve been dealing with some big issues, so that support is huge for me. My wife was here tonight. Kids watching. Parents. That’s all for them.
“I’m living my best days.”
Keep it rolling, Kuzy.
5. The Wild lived up to their nickname this week, pulling Marc-Andre Fleury in 3-on-3 overtime and thus risking a standings point already earned in favour of extra attacker Matt Boldy.
Because fortune favours the, um, bold, Boldy deposited the winning goal 20 seconds later to help Minnesota defeat Nashville, one of the clubs it’s chasing in pursuit of a playoff spot.
More poetry: Minnesota’s gutsy coach, John Hynes, was fired by the Predators in May.
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Hynes’s sweet gambit made history and brought to light a 3-on-3 rule that seldom comes into play.
Not since the Kings pulled their goalie in OT back on Oct. 28, 2017, had a team risked losing a point and earned two for the effort.
That Kings team did so with less than a second on the clock and an O-zone draw, however.
Not nearly as risky as Hynes pulling the stunt with 90 seconds still on the clock.
6. Doug Armstrong gets another shot at managing Team Canada’s Olympic men’s squad after he was denied that opportunity in 2022.
Also nice to see loyal Team Canada player Ryan Getzlaf getting involved in the roster construction.
“When you work for Hockey Canada,” Armstrong said at Friday’s introductory press conference, “we start on third base, but we still have to get home. That is our job, to get from third to home.
“With the talent we have, not only on the ice but in coaching, management, training staff and support staff, it is a great opportunity to work with these guys and make Canada proud.”
Armstrong will be building Canada’s club for next winter’s 4 Nations Face-Off as well. Why not pick the same coaching staff for both and use that tournament as a test drive?
We don’t see a reason to deviate from the 2022 head coach choice of Jon Cooper, but we’d like to see Brind’Amour and Bruce Cassidy on that staff as well.
7. I love it when a plan comes together.
During Wednesday’s pre-game interview on the TNT broadcast, Evander Kane declared that he wanted to set up Connor Brown for his first goal of the year (actually, his first since 2022).
Then, the winger did exactly that.
These are the moments that keep us coming back to sports.
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8. Quote of the Week.
“We have Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre on different lines, so we’re good.” —Alex Ovechkin, when asked how the Capitals plan to counter Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on separate lines
(P.S. The Oilers then demolished Washington 7-2. McDavid and Draisaitl combined for seven points; McMichael and Lapierre combined for one.)
9. As Brad Treliving begins to rough-sketch his 2024-25 roster, questions abound on the back end: Woll is cheap and cheerful, but who will be his tandem mate? Morgan Rielly and Jake McCabe are locked in on the blueline, sure, but who else comes back? Or comes in?
Toronto’s forward core, however, is much more certain.
The Core Four, of course, are locked, loaded and luxury-priced. But, barring trade, the Leafs will have much more continuity in its supporting cast of forwards than in years past.
With pending UFA Bobby McMann inking his two-year extension this week, Treliving now has six role-playing guys upfront set for next fall: McMann, David Kämpf, Calle Järnkrok, Ryan Reaves, Matthew Knies and Pontus Holmberg.
None will drain more than $2.4 million off the books.
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If the GM decides to roll with that group of 10, he needs fill only a couple more spots; those could potentially go to RFAs Connor Dewar, Nick Robertson and Noah Gregor, all of whom are still under team control and won’t cost a ton.
Prospects Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan will also be eager to make a push.
While we expect Treliving to explore some high-end talent to replace UFAs Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi if they cannot be re-signed, the holes up front are less gaping than they have been in recent off-seasons. The money would be better spent on defence.
Fewer mercenaries up front and a few more guys with tenure should be seen as a positive for the group.
10. Though consistently dangerous in the regular season, the Maple Leafs’ power play has an uncomfortable history of drying up come playoff time.
Toronto has scored just once on the man-advantage over its past eight games and 18 opportunities. Missing power-play playmaking rover Mitch Marner for a few games hasn’t helped.
Which gives some context as to why Keefe threw his top unit over the boards late in the third period of Thursday’s blowout, with his Leafs leading the Flyers 6-1.
Keefe may also have been sticking it to a team that plays Toronto hard. (You wanna keep taking penalties in a blowout, then take PP1 too.)
Flyers coach Rocky Thompson lost it on Keefe from the other bench, viewing the decision as a sign of disrespect.
This isn’t Little League.
If you’re worried about getting embarrassed on home ice, play better.
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Toronto needs to get its 5-on-4 game in order, as special teams will be a factor come Game 83.
After the win, Keefe reached out to explain his decision to the Flyers. Although he understood Thompson’s anger, Keefe defended that his intent was not to run up the score.
“We had tired people on our bench,” Keefe explained to reporters. “I got to manage my team and manage my bench at that point in time. They got a shorty out of it.”
A bit of bitterness isn’t the worst thing; the Leafs fly right back to Philly on Tuesday.
11. Happy to see Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman get one more hug-filled run at a Cup together, though the writing seems to be on the wall that their won’t be enough cap space to keep the 2023 Jennings brothers together in 2024-25, when Swayman’s inevitable raise kicks in.
Yes, Ullmark holds a 15-team no-trade list.
But with the lack of dependable goalies around, no question a recent Vezina champ with a .913 save percentage and a reasonable $5-million price tag should be easy to move.
That Ullmark has only one more year on his deal means interested teams shouldn’t be worried about term.
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He has less term than Jacob Markstrom and is cheaper in real dollars than Juuse Saros, two of the other biggies who could switch sweaters over the summer.
12. Pastrnak revealed that he and Pat Maroon were chatting from opposite sides of the red line during a recent game, and the Bruins star suggested Maroon — hockey’s four-leaf clover — come to Boston.
When the three-time Stanley Cup champion got traded at the deadline, he texted Pastrnak: “The red-line chat came true.”
The former Lightning menace cut right to the chase during his Boston introduction this week.
“I feel like I’m hated here,” he said, smiling.
