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Connor Dewar

Maple Leafs Place Auston Matthews On IR, Activate Connor Dewar

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The Maple Leafs have moved Auston Matthews to injured reserve with his upper-body injury retroactive to Nov. 3, the team announced. They’re using the open spot to reinstate forward Connor Dewar from his LTIR conditioning loan and add him to the active roster.

The IR placement only minimally affects Matthews’ timeline for a return. Head coach Craig Berube already told reporters that the superstar would miss his second straight game tonight against the Red Wings and that he was doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Canadiens. He’s now been ruled out against Montreal thanks to the move to IR but could return for Tuesday’s matchup against the Senators. He’ll miss at least three games in total with the ailment, which he’s been playing through for a good chunk of the season.

Meanwhile, Dewar was one of two players for the Leafs in the AHL on LTIR conditioning stints. They assigned both he and defenseman Jani Hakanpää to the minors at the beginning of the month as they each got their feet back under them after offseason surgeries – in Dewar’s case, a shoulder procedure. LTIR conditioning stints can only last up to three games or six days, and the time constraint ends today. The lack of news regarding Hakanpää indicates he’s not entirely cleared to return to full-time action and will remain on LTIR for a tad longer.

Matthews’ IR placement buys the Leafs a little bit of time, but they’ll still need to make a roster move when the captain is ready to return next week and another one when Hakanpää is eventually ready to play. They have $1.83MM left in their LTIR pool after today’s transactions with Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok and Dakota Mermis still on the list.

In his lone appearance on his conditioning stint, Dewar had a goal and an assist in what amounted to his first AHL action since the 2021-22 campaign. Acquired from the Wild at last season’s trade deadline, Dewar had a goal and four assists in 17 games for Toronto down the stretch and avoided arbitration over the summer with a one-year, $1.18MM settlement.

The high-energy 5’10” forward can play both center and wing and was a fixture on the Leafs’ penalty kill to close out 2023-24, averaging nearly two-and-a-half minutes per game shorthanded. He’s projected to serve as a healthy scratch against Detroit tonight while Steven Lorentz, David Kämpf and Ryan Reaves remain in fourth-line roles, but he could get a chance to play against the Habs tomorrow.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Maple Leafs Assign Connor Dewar, Jani Hakanpää On LTIR Conditioning Loans

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The Maple Leafs announced today that forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Jani Hakanpää will get some AHL action under their belt after being assigned to the Toronto Marlies on conditioning stints. They’ll remain on long-term injured reserve and won’t count against the NHL roster until they’re ready to return.

Unlike regular conditioning loans in which a player remains on the active roster but can play as many AHL games as are scheduled for their affiliate club over two weeks, LTIR conditioning loans can only last for up to six days or three games, whichever comes first. After the conditioning loan ends, the team must activate the player from LTIR if they’re deemed ready to return to play and haven’t sustained any setbacks in their recovery.

That means some significant roster moves will be coming for the Leafs next week, assuming Dewar’s and Hakanpää’s loans are successful. They have the necessary cap space to activate them, especially after freeing up a decent chunk of money by swapping Timothy Liljegren ($3MM cap hit) for Matt Benning ($1.25MM cap hit) in their trade with the Sharks earlier this week. But they lack actual roster space, and they’ll need to remove two players from the 23-man roster to activate them.

One of those two moves will undoubtedly be waiving depth defenseman Philippe Myers. He unexpectedly made Toronto’s opening night roster after spending most of the last two seasons in the AHL. However, he’s made no impact since doing so. Rostered as a second extra defenseman, he’s only made one appearance so far this season, posting a -1 rating in 12:11 of ice time against the Bruins on Oct. 26. The other move will be more complex. With no other obvious waiver candidates aside from Myers, general manager Brad Treliving could make his second trade in as many weeks to open up the other space.

Outside the roster shenanigans, the Leafs are close to gaining two legitimately valuable depth pieces. Dewar, 25, has donned the Maple Leaf logo before, appearing in 17 regular-season and six playoff games last season after being acquired from the Wild on trade deadline day. He was serviceable in a fourth-line role, posting a goal and four assists with a -2 rating, averaging nearly 13 minutes per game. He can easily switch between center and wing, has recorded over 120 hits in his two full NHL seasons, and averaged 2:24 per game on the penalty kill for Toronto last season after the trade, second among Leafs forwards behind David Kämpf (2:27).

Dewar filed for salary arbitration last summer after reaching restricted free agency but settled before his hearing, agreeing to a one-year, $1.18MM contract to return to the Leafs. He did so two months after receiving shoulder surgery in May. He’s been skating away from and with his teammates for almost a month now as he works his way back, and it now appears he’s not too long away from making his season debut. The 2018 third-round pick scored a career-high 11 goals in 74 appearances last season, split between Minnesota and Toronto.

When Hakanpää comes off LTIR, though, it’ll be the 32-year-old’s Leafs debut. After sitting out the last few months of the Stars’ season with a knee injury, he inked a reported two-year, $3MM deal with Toronto immediately after becoming an unrestricted free agent on July 1. But that contract was never registered with the league, a story that began gaining traction later that month. Hakanpää underwent arthroscopic surgery to address the knee injury while with Dallas but was still dealing with lingering effects, which he and the Leafs’ medical staff initially disagreed on how to move forward from. After a few months of back-and-forth, the two sides came to terms on a revised one-year, $1.47MM contract in mid-September.

A fourth-round pick of the Blues back in 2010, Hakanpää didn’t make his NHL debut until signing with the Ducks as a free agent in 2019. After brief stops in Anaheim and Carolina, the 6’6″ Hakanpää emerged as a legitimate shutdown threat in Dallas. Over the past three seasons, the right-shot defender posted 40 points (12 G, 28 A) and a +29 rating in 226 appearances for the Stars, averaging 18:02 per game with a whopping 363 blocks and 668 hits. With Hakanpää on the ice at even strength, the Stars controlled 46.6% of shot attempts and 47.7% of expected goals, with sub-50 numbers to be expected given his lack of offensive deployment.

Upon their returns, Dewar will look to unseat Kämpf, Pontus Holmberg or Steven Lorentz for a spot in Toronto’s bottom six, while Hakanpää will likely look to usurp Simon Benoit or Conor Timmins for a bottom-pairing role.

Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs, Tavares, Benson, Peterka

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The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled goaltender Dennis Hildeby earlier this morning with Joseph Woll missing the next few days due to “lower-body tightness“. It’s official the latter goaltender will miss at least the next three games with PuckPedia reporting the organization has placed him on injured reserve.

PuckPedia also shared that the organization has moved forward Connor Dewar to long-term injured reserve which puts their available cap space at $337K after today’s moves. Dewar has been nursing a shoulder injury suffered at the end of last season but did skate during training camp in a non-contact jersey.

The news doesn’t bode well for the organization as injury concerns have plagued Woll since he became the full-time goaltender last season. An ankle injury suffered last year lost him nearly two months of the regular season limiting him to only 25 games played. The Maple Leafs brought in a solid insurance option this summer in Anthony Stolarz but the team prefers to have both netminders healthy and available.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Although many of the headlines will be taken by Mitch Marner’s extension negotiations, the Maple Leafs have another big one to focus on. Pierre LeBrun writes in The Athletic that the organization has begun contract talks with center John Tavares who will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. LeBrun shares that there’s mutual understanding between Tavares and Toronto that there will be a pay cut upon his $11MM salary but the scale factor of change is still up in the air. That will make the extension negotiations more delicate but there is still a desire between both parties to extend their relationship.
  • The Buffalo Sabres shared a report from the team’s practice earlier today showing forwards Zach Benson and John-Jason Peterka were back on the ice. They are both options for the team tomorrow night in their regular season opener in North America after sustaining minor injuries in the team’s games in Prague against the New Jersey Devils.

Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs Injuries, Swayman, Pitlick, Mersch

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Injured Maple Leafs Connor Dewar, Jani Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok, and John Tavares all skated during practice Monday, albeit in non-contact jerseys on a separate sheet of ice away from the main group (via TSN’s Mark Masters).

Dewar and Hakanpää are recovering from shoulder and knee injuries dating back to the end of last season, while Järnkrok and Tavares are dealing with lower-body injuries sustained during preseason. None of their availabilities for opening night have been confirmed, although especially in Dewar and Hakanpää’s case, the fact they’re skating means their absences shouldn’t stretch too far past the start of the regular season if they’re unable to go. Järnkrok and Tavares remain listed as day-to-day.

That could certainly throw a wrench into the Leafs’ opening night roster if neither Dewar nor Hakanpää will be out long enough to be eligible to land on long-term injured reserve. Toronto is $1.07MM over the salary cap with a full projected roster, per PuckPedia, but could easily become compliant by waiving defenseman Conor Timmins and assigning him to the minors. That doesn’t leave enough room to sign either Steven Lorentz or Max Pacioretty to league-minimum contracts off their PTOs, though.

Head coach Craig Berube said later Monday that he expects Järnkrok and Tavares to take part in the next practice, so their availability for the start of the season should be considered likely at worst (via The Hockey News’ David Alter).

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • There’s still no end in sight to the contract negotiation stalemate between the Bruins and restricted free agent netminder Jeremy Swayman. But when the end arrives, all signs still point to the goalie staying in Boston. Neither side has any interest in starting up preliminary trade talks for his signing rights, even amid an unusually difficult set of talks, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa relays. “Swayman wants to be a Bruin. The feeling is mutual,” he wrote.
  • Still with Boston, veteran winger Tyler Pitlick will attend their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins’, training camp on a PTO, reports the New England Hockey Journal’s Mark Divver. It’s quite a steep fall down the hockey ladder for the 32-year-old who appeared in 34 games with the Rangers last season on a one-way deal before landing on waivers in February and spending the rest of the season with AHL Hartford. Pitlick, a bottom-six defensive presence for most of his 10-year, 420-game career, was limited to four points with the Rangers and seven points in 22 games with Hartford last year.
  • Former Kings forward and longtime Sabres depth piece Michael Mersch announced his retirement Monday. The 31-year-old had spent the last four seasons with Buffalo’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, serving as captain since 2021. A fourth-round pick of Los Angeles in 2011, Mersch posted 188 goals, 213 assists, and 401 points in 597 AHL games in parts of 11 seasons with the Kings’, Sabres’, and Stars’ affiliates. He played 17 NHL games, all with Los Angeles in the 2015-16 campaign, recording a goal and two assists.

Maple Leafs Notes: Nylander, Rogers, Tavares, Dewar, Minten, Danford

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The grand William Nylander center experiment has new legs under incoming head coach Craig Berube. He told reporters Wednesday that he’ll open camp with Nylander down the middle with Max Domi on his wing (via David Alter of The Hockey News).

The Maple Leafs have utilized Nylander at center on and off throughout his nine-year career, but never for an extended period. Berube hinted that could change, though, allowing Toronto to potentially have one of the deepest top nines down the middle in the league with Auston Matthews and John Tavares anchoring separate lines.

Nylander has frequently alternated between Matthews’ and Tavares’ right wings since the latter arrived in Toronto in 2018, mostly skating with the latter. He’s coming off a career-best 2023-24 campaign that saw him score 40 goals and 98 points, skating in all 82 games for the second regular season in a row. He’s entering the first year of the eight-year, $92MM extension he signed in January.

More news and notes as Toronto begins its training camp:

  • Rogers Communications is now the majority owner of parent corporation Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment after purchasing a 37.5% stake in the company for nearly $3.5B, Scott Soshnick and Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico report. Rogers already owned 37.5% of the company and purchased this stake from fellow Canadian telecom giant Bell, putting a total valuation of MLSE at $9.3B. The corporation owns the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC, and the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in addition to the Maple Leafs. The transaction will close in mid-2025.
  • For the second time in his career, Tavares is beginning a contract year without an extension in hand and risks becoming an unrestricted free agent. “I want to be here. I want to be here long term, hopefully that happens,” he told reporters Wednesday (via Alter). Now in the final year of the seven-year, $77MM mega-deal he signed to come to Toronto as a free agent in 2018, Tavares will be looking at a significant reduction from his $11MM AAV to stay in Toronto. The captain turns 34 on Friday and had 29 goals and 65 points in 80 games last season.
  • General manager Brad Trelivingalso spoke to reporters today, offering injury updates on a variety of Leafs skaters who will be absent from the first day of camp (via Alter). Chief among them is Connor Dewar, who’s still not fully cleared following offseason shoulder surgery. The 25-year-old won’t be ready for the start of camp but should be good to go when the regular season begins next month. Dewar had a goal and four assists in 17 games with Toronto after being acquired from the Wild at last year’s trade deadline. An RFA this summer, he and the Leafs settled on a one-year, $1.18MM deal to avoid arbitration.
  • Roster hopeful Fraser Minten is looking at a weeks-long absence after sustaining a high-ankle sprain during rookie camp, Treliving said. It’s a tough blow for the 20-year-old, who unexpectedly cracked the Leafs’ opening-night roster last year and averaged 11:26 through four appearances before being loaned back to his junior club. Minten, the No. 38 overall pick in 2022, is now old enough for a full-time AHL assignment and will likely be sent to the Toronto Marlies to begin the season after he’s cleared to return.
  • Treliving also confirmed that 2024 first-round pick Ben Danford sustained a concussion during rookie camp but is progressing well. The 18-year-old defender could get a few reps with Toronto in camp later on but will spend 2024-25 on loan to the OHL’s Oshawa Generals after signing his entry-level contract in August.

2024 Salary Arbitration Tracker

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It has been a quieter year on the salary arbitration front across the NHL.  After 23 players filed last summer, just 14 did this time around.  As expected, most have settled so far with a few hearings still pending.  Here’s a rundown of who has settled and who still needs to sign.

Updated 7/30/24, 1:07 p.m.

Contracts Settled

D Jake Christiansen (Blue Jackets) – one year, $775K (two-way agreement)
F Connor Dewar (Maple Leafs) – one year, $1.18MM
F Jack Drury (Hurricanes) – two years, $3.45MM
D Ty Emberson (Sharks) – one year, $950K
G Jet Greaves (Blue Jackets) – two years, $1.625MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
F Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sabres) – five years, $23.75MM
F Beck Malenstyn (Sabres) – two years, $2.7MM
D J.J. Moser (Lightning) – two years, $6.75MM
F Joe Veleno (Red Wings) – two years, $4.55MM
F Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders) – one year, $1MM
F Kirill Marchenko (Blue Jackets) – three years, $11.55MM
F Martin Necas (Hurricanes) – two years, $13MM
D Ryan Lindgren (Rangers) – one year, $4.5MM

Contracts Awarded

D Spencer Stastney (Predators) – two years, $1.675MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)

Scheduled Hearings

none

A reminder of some of the arbitration rules for the upcoming potential hearings:

  • A player and team can settle on a deal at any point before the hearing starts.
  • Once the hearing has taken place, the arbitration decision must be issued by email within 48 hours.
  • Arbitration awards can only be one or two years in length. (Players who are in their final year of restricted free agency are only entitled to a one-year agreement from an arbitrator.)
  • The team decides on the awarded term as these were all player-elected filings.
  • The team can walk away from the arbitration decision if a contract with an average annual value of more than $4.74MM is awarded.

Worth noting is that teams who have someone file for arbitration will receive a second buyout window three days after their final contract is settled or awarded.  The window lasts for 48 hours and the only eligible players to be bought out in this timeframe are those who have an AAV of $4MM or more and were on that team’s reserve list at the trade deadline back in March.

Maple Leafs, Connor Dewar Avoid Arbitration

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The Maple Leafs have avoided arbitration with RFA forward Connor Dewar. He’s inked a one-year deal worth $1.18MM, the team announced today.

Arbitration hearings began yesterday with Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney and will run as late as Aug. 4. The NHLPA will not release a schedule of hearing dates this year. Stastney’s case is the only one that’s needed a hearing thus far, with most others settling their cases in advance. Dewar is the second one to do so today, joining Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn.

Dewar, 25, was arbitration-eligible for the first time this year after completing a two-year, $1.6MM deal signed with the Wild in 2022. He earns a modest raise over his previous $800K cap hit, but it’s cheaper than the two-year, $1.44MM cap hit deal that Evolving-Hockey projected him to land this summer. He’ll be eligible for arbitration again as an RFA in 2025 before becoming a UFA.

He’s coming off a career-best season offensively, finishing with 11 goals and 19 points in 74 games split between Minnesota and Toronto. A third-round pick of the Wild in 2018, he was traded to the Leafs for a 2026 fourth-round pick and prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov, who has since become a UFA. He also averaged a career-high 11:39 per game, including 12:54 in 17 games after the move to Toronto. His 14.3% shooting rate suggests some regression next year, though. Still, the 5’10” Manitoba native is an effective physical presence in a fourth-line role and was used heavily on the penalty kill after arriving with the Leafs, averaging 2:24 per game shorthanded.

Dewar is expected to be ready for camp after undergoing shoulder surgery in May. He projects to start the season in a fourth-line role on the wing at even strength alongside David Kämpf at center, who routinely made up their top penalty-killing unit down the stretch last season.

14 Players Elect For Salary Arbitration

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Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and originally produced by the National Hockey Leaguer Players’ Association, 14 players have elected for salary arbitration this summer. The deadline for team-elected arbitration is tomorrow. Friedman also notes the arbitration hearings will happen between July 20th and August 4th. To add context, not every one of these players will appear for a hearing with their respective teams as they may continue to negotiate on a new contract. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet. Here is a list of the players that have elected for arbitration:

F Beck Malenstyn (Buffalo Sabres)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres)
F Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes)
D Jake Christiansen (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings)
D Spencer Stastney (Nashville Predators)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders)
D Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers)
D Ty Emberson (San Jose Sharks)
D J.J. Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning)
F Connor Dewar (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Maple Leafs Notes: Trades, Shanahan, Injuries

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While the Maple Leafs’ management didn’t give any updates about their search for a head coach during Friday morning’s end-of-season media availability, there was still a handful of information divulged worth discussing.

That includes team president Brendan Shanahan confirming nothing has been ruled out regarding possible trades or other changes to the roster this summer (via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). After this year’s first-round loss to the Bruins, Toronto has lost eight of its nine playoff series in the Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/William Nylander era. Matthews and Nylander have signed recent extensions and won’t be moved after career seasons, but Marner and captain John Tavares each are pending UFAs beginning July 1.

Both Marner and Tavares have full no-move clauses, though, something that makes general manager Brad Treliving’s job much harder if they do opt to free up a sizable amount of cap space by moving a core piece. Even with a lack of scoring largely dooming them against Boston this year, expect any of Treliving’s moves or adds this summer to be centered around defensive or physical play – he confirmed as such today (via TSN’s Chris Johnston). That would fall in line with the moves Treliving made before this year’s trade deadline, picking up shutdown defensemen Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin as well as checking forward Connor Dewar.

Other updates from Leafland:

  • After the team fired head coach Sheldon Keefe yesterday, many thought Shanahan’s job could be in jeopardy as well since he’s overseen all of the Maple Leafs’ playoff losses since Matthews was drafted in 2016. That won’t be the case, though. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley confirmed the organization would retain Shanahan this summer with one year left on his contract (via the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan). Shanahan has been in the president/alternate governor role for the Leafs for over a decade now, joining the club in April 2014 after serving as the NHL’s director of player safety.
  • Treliving also spoke to the injuries that plagued many of Toronto’s core pieces throughout the first round, including Matthews and Nylander (via The Hockey News’ David Alter). Namely, he confirmed that Matthews’ absence in Games 5 and 6 – which they both won – wasn’t solely due to the illness he’d picked up earlier in the series, but rather a head injury sustained in Game 4. Treliving also confirmed that Nylander’s absence through the first three games of the series was due to migraines, while goaltender Joseph Woll sustained an SI joint sprain in his back during Game 6 that kept him out of their Game 7 loss. The lower-body injury that kept depth winger Bobby McMann out of action was an MCL sprain sustained near the end of the season, and he would have been available to return during the second round if they made it. Dewar, who doesn’t have a contract next season but is a restricted free agent, also requires shoulder surgery but will be ready for training camp.

Maple Leafs Acquire Connor Dewar

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The Maple Leafs have acquired depth forward Connor Dewar from the Wild, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. The Wild are receiving a 2026 fourth-round pick in return, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Forward prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov is also headed to Minnesota in the deal, per an official announcement from the Wild.

Dewar has settled into a comfortable fourth-line role since making his debut in the 2021-22 season, finding an extra layer to his game this year with a career-high 10 goals, though he’s still four points shy of the 18 points he managed in 81 games last season. Last year marked the first time that Dewar spent all season in the NHL, a trend he’s continuing this year, after scoring 59 points in 105 AHL games between 2019 and 2022. Dewar was a third-round draft pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, playing in the sixth-most NHL games of any player selected after that year’s first round. While his impact isn’t too grandiose, Dewar has shown flashes of strong puckhandling and good fundamentals, helping him fit into the needs of whatever the coach’s system may be.

Minnesota swaps a depth forward for a depth prospect, bringing in Ovchinikov, who is in his first full season in the AHL after splitting the last two years between the AHL and KHL. He’s scored seven goals and 10 points in 20 games this season, adding four penatly minutes and a -1. It’s the second-most that Ovchinikov has scored at a professional level, behind the five goals and 13 points he managed in 68 KHL games last season. Ovchinikov is a slick-moving forward with good puck skills, though his game has lacked direction and poise. He will need to boost his drive to the net, and ability to work with his teammates, if he wants to climb his way up Minnesota’s depth charts.

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