Maybe a few extracurriculars aren't such a bad idea, after all.
Following one of the club's most dismal displays of the season on Tuesday night against Florida, the Toronto Maple Leafs rebounded in a big way on Thursday, cruising to a 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The team received a lot of backlash after Tuesday's 7-2 shelling by the Panthers, as photos posted on Instagram showed that players - including Morgan Rielly, Tyler Bozak, Mitch Marner, Leo Komarov, and Josh Leivo - had spent Sunday fishing.
Following Thursday's game, Bozak took joy in hinting that time spent away from the rink was to thank for Toronto's effort vs. the Lightning.
"We had a lot of energy," Bozak said with a smile, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "Whenever you have a few days to bond, do some stuff outside the rink it helps. It helped us tonight."
Bozak's answer on team bonding elicited huge laugh from reporters; "What? What?" he asked. "I don't get it."
Each day this week, we'll publish mock expansion keeper lists by division, and up next is the Pacific. On Friday, we'll publish our mock expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights roster.
*NMC = No-movement clause *All first- and second-year professionals, as well as all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits).
Anaheim Ducks
F
D
G
Corey Perry (NMC)
Hampus Lindholm
John Gibson
Ryan Getzlaf (NMC)
Sami Vatanen
Ryan Kesler (NMC)
Cam Fowler
Rickard Rakell
Kevin Bieksa (NMC)
The Ducks depth at defense appears to be a curse and as such will be forced to make Josh Manson available lest they swap out one of the defensemen above.
That move will also guarantee Jakob Silfverberg's availability. The Ducks are sure to lose someone of significance to the Golden Knights.
Arizona Coyotes
F
D
G
Shane Doan
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Mike Smith
Tobias Rieder
Alex Goligoski (NMC)
Teemu Pulkkinen
Connor Murphy
Alexander Burmistrov
Radim Vrbata
Anthony Duclair
Jordan Martinook
The blessing for the Coyotes is that few members of their future are eligible for the expansion draft, so the team is unlikely to lose anyone significant.
Unfortunately, having to make available two players who are signed through 2017-18 means Brad Richardson gets exposed.
Calgary Flames
F
D
G
Johnny Gaudreau
Mark Giordano
Brian Elliott
Sean Monahan
Dougie Hamilton
Troy Brouwer
T.J. Brodie
Mikael Frolik
Mikael Backlund
Sam Bennett
Michael Ferland
The Flames should have no problem locking up all their heavy hitters. That said, new acquisitions Curtis Lazar and Michael Stone are sure to be exposed, while goaltender Chad Johnson - who's had stints as the club's starter this season - is also likely to be available.
Edmonton Oilers
F
D
G
Jordan Eberle
Andrej Sekera (NMC)
Cam Talbot
Milan Lucic (NMC)
Oscar Klefbom
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Adam Larsson
Zack Kassian
Patrick Maroon
Anton Lander
Leon Draisaitl
The Oilers' most notable moves heading into the expansion draft will be leaving a couple of veterans exposed.
Players such as Matt Hendricks and Benoit Pouliot, who have produced very little, are likely to be exposed, while Anton Lander - who is producing 1.6 points per game in the AHL - could be protected in lieu of the men above.
Once again, exposure requirements could leave utility player Mark Letestu available.
Los Angeles Kings
F
D
G
Anze Kopitar (NMC)
Drew Doughty
Jonathan Quick
Dustin Brown
Alec Martinez
Jeff Carter
Jake Muzzin
Tyler Toffoli
Trevor Lewis
Tanner Pearson
Marian Gaborik
The most intriguing decision for the Kings will be to almost certainly make Ben Bishop available.
What could skew the above list is if the team decides to make players such as Marian Gaborik and Dustin Brown available. Both are under contract for the next four and five years, respectively, with a combined cap hit of $10.75 million.
The Kings could decide to risk that Vegas won't want to add those contracts and in turn protect more depth forwards.
San Jose Sharks
F
D
G
Joe Thornton
Brent Burns
Martin Jones
Patrick Marleau
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Logan Couture
Justin Braun
Joe Pavelski
Mikkel Boedker
Tomas Hertl
Melker Karlsson
The Sharks could be forced to expose some of their depth forwards and defensemen, but their strong core is safe.
Vancouver Canucks
F
D
G
Henrik Sedin (NMC)
Alexander Edler
Jacob Markstrom
Daniel Sedin (NMC)
Christopher Tanev
Loui Eriksson (NMC)
Luca Sbisa
Brendan Gaunce
Sven Baertschi
Markus Granlund
Bo Horvat
Given his age and contract, it's clear the Canucks will expose Ryan Miller.
On defense, the most notable exposure is Erik Gudbranson, while the team is also expected to leave some depth prospects available.
As for forwards, limited contracts leave Brandon Sutter as the Canucks' choice to be left exposed.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping an increase in ticket prices will actually benefit fans.
Renewals for season tickets began Monday and prices are up between $7-$16 per ticket. The news of the hike is sure to rub fans the wrong way - especially with the club already billed with the most expensive tickets league-wide, according to Ticket I.Q. - but as MLSE chief commercial officer David Hopkinson insists, the hike is to combat scalpers and those selling tickets on the secondary market.
"If we don’t price the tickets appropriately versus what the market is going to pay for them, guess what happens," Hopkinson said, according to Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star. "The tickets don’t get cheaper. Just other guys make the money ... and that doesn’t help your hockey team. That doesn’t help us get better."
Along with the higher prices, the Maple Leafs will also introduce a new membership program in which fans can buy full-season tickets, multi-game packages, and earn rewards.
"There is a significant arbitrage here that we’ve got to try and close," Hopkinson said. "Someone’s going to end up with the money, and we’d rather it’s not a guy in a parka
Despite the increased prices, Hopkinson feels the team should still see 99.6 percent of season-ticket holders re-up for next season.
It marks Pacioretty's fourth straight 30-goal campaign, but still the 40-goal mark eludes him.
Pacioretty is on pace to finish with 39 goals for the second time in his career. He's been far and away the club's most lethal offensive option and, as mentioned, is in contention for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.
However, the question remains: Will Pacioretty finally eclipse the 40-goal mark this season?
The Montreal Canadiens signed defenseman Simon Bourque to a three-year entry-level contract, the team announced Thursday.
Bourque - who was plucked in the sixth round in 2015 - has split this season between the Rimouski Oceanic and Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. He's posted a combined 15 goals and 51 points - second and fifth, respectively, among defensemen in those categories.
In 245 career games, he has 40 goals and 144 points.
Gormley has not suited up for the Devils this season, instead spending the year with the club's America Hockey League squad in Albany where he has contributed just two goals and 10 points in 35 games.
Despite last week's trade deadline, it's important to note that teams can still complete trades post deadline, but players moved cannot play for their respected teams this season or in the playoffs.
#Sens Gormley will be assigned to Binghamton; post-deadline trade means he is not eligible to be recalled to Ottawa this season.
After a dismal trip through California, the Toronto Maple Leafs now return home before they kick off their final playoff push.
The club captured just one of a possible six points in games against the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks this week, and with that, Toronto has now fallen outside the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Maple Leafs get a three-day break before welcoming the Detroit Red Wings to the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday. But with just 18 games remaining, they'll need some inspired performances if they hope to make the postseason for the first time since 2012-13.
The biggest hindrance to their success might be their rather cruel remaining schedule. The Maple Leafs play five games against top-five clubs and seven games against teams seeded higher than them entering play Saturday.
Toronto's saving grace is that it holds the advantage as far as season series are concerned.
Here are the Maple Leafs' remaining opponents and their season results against those clubs, grouped by teams ahead of them in the overall standings (16th), teams just below them, and teams well out of the playoff race.
Teams above them:
Rank Overall
Team
Season Series
1
Capitals
1-0-1
2
Blackhawks
0-0-1
4
Blue Jackets
0-1-0
5
Penguins
1-1-0
12
Bruins
3-0-0
14
Predators
1-0-0
Teams just below them:
Rank Overall
Team
Season Series
17
Panthers
3-0-0
18
Lightning
1-1-0
19
Flyers
1-1-0
Teams well below them:
Rank Overall
Team
Season Series
22
Sabres
2-1-0
24
Devils
1-0-1
26
Red Wings
2-0-0
28
Hurricanes
1-1-0
(Note: The Maple Leafs play the Blue Jackets, Panthers, Lightning, Sabres, and Red Wings twice in their final 18 games.)
That amounts to 26 games against their 13 remaining opponents so far this season. To date, Toronto's posted a 17-6-3 record against those teams.
However, while the Maple Leafs have owned their upcoming opponents for the majority of the regular season, most of those 13 clubs have been playing better hockey recently.
The season so far might be on the Maple Leafs' side, but with a collection of games coming up against the league's elite and some teams riding sudden hot streaks, it won't be easy for Toronto to lock down its first playoff berth in four years.
The trade deadline didn't go as planned for Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray.
Murray entered the day with two potential rental defensemen in Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson - who will both become unrestricted free agents at season's end - but after 3 p.m. ET, they remained members of the Sabres.
"I'm a little bit surprised," he said, according to John Vogl of The Buffalo News. "We didn't have a ton of UFAs, as you know. We had two on the back end that I thought would create some interest. I had some calls on them. Price-wise I was very open."
The Sabres GM expressed his dissatisfaction with the day as a whole.
"Am I disappointed? Of course I'm disappointed," Murray said. "We still have two players here who are here, so I don't want to sit here and just say I couldn't get anything for them. I don't want them to walk in tomorrow with their tail between their legs here."
He added that he received calls on Brian Gionta and Evander Kane, but wasn't interested in the potential deals.
With the Sabres now six points outside the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and five teams to jump, they're likely destined for an early spring.
The dust of the trade deadline is finally beginning to settle.
Deals involving Thomas Vanek, Jarome Iginla, and Mark Streit were among the most lucrative and biggest trades reported in the hour before and after the 3:00 p.m. ET mark.
While those moves are expected to have the biggest payoffs for the teams that acquired those players, even the smallest deadline transaction can eventually make a huge impact on the NHL landscape.
Here are three minor trades from Wednesday that could pay off big:
Parenteau to Predators
(Photo courtesy: USA Today Sports)
The Nashville Predators made a safe move to improve their eighth-ranked offense.
The Predators acquired P.A. Parenteau from the New Jersey Devils, giving up just a sixth-round pick for his services. In exchange, Nashville gets a player who has proven - wherever he's played - that he can put the puck in the net.
Parenteau had amassed the fourth-most goals for the Devils this season with 13, firing 109 shots on goal. He's an asset on the power play, collecting four goals and eight points with the extra man.
The Predators' power play currently sits 12th overall, so upgrading that unit could pay dividends down the stretch and into the postseason.
Stafford to Bruins
Drew Stafford was having a season to forget in Winnipeg, but a deal to the Boston Bruins could bring the 31-year-old winger new life.
The Bruins acquired Stafford for the low price of a conditional sixth-round selection. While he's amassed only four goals and 13 points in 49 games, history shows Stafford can thrive as a rental.
He first joined the Jets ahead of the trade deadline during the 2014-15 season. After scoring just nine goals and 24 points in 50 games with the Buffalo Sabres, he went off for nine goals and 19 points in 26 games down the stretch, adding another two points in four playoff contests.
If he can even approach replicating that type of production with the Bruins, he could be vital in Boston not just making the playoffs, but potentially going on a run.
The Canadiens certainly add size through the transaction - Martinsen, who's 26, has 5 inches and 32 pounds over the 23-year-old Andrighetto. However, in doing so, they may have given up the more skilled player.
Andrighetto's experienced only marginal success with the big club this season - he has just two goals and eight points in 22 games - but last season he posted a respectable 17 points in 44 games. This season with the St. John's IceCaps, Andrighetto has 22 points in 20 games.
Martinsen, meanwhile, has collected seven points in 55 games this year and just 18 points in 110 career games.
If Andrighetto can continue to develop his game, the Avalanche could have themselves a serviceable forward for the future.
In Korpikoski, the Blue Jackets add a winger capable of providing some depth scoring, while the Stars add a budding young defenseman.
Korpikoski was in his first season with the Stars where he had eight goals and 20 points in 60 games. As for Heatherington, he's spent the year with the AHL's Cleveland Monsters where - in his second professional season - he has one goals and six points.
The 30-year-old Korpikoski will become an unrestricted free agent in July, while Heatherington remains under contract through next season.
