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Andreas Johnsson Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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Just as the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to be getting healthy, another injury has occurred. The team has placed Andreas Johnsson on long-term injured reserve after sustaining a leg injury on Wednesday night. Johnsson will be re-evaluated after the Christmas break, but for now the Maple Leafs have recalled Nic Petan, Martin Marincin and Pontus Aberg from the minor leagues.

Johnsson’s injury actually relieves some of the salary cap pressure for the Maple Leafs, who were set to move forward with just 21 players on the roster for the time being. Now that they can move Johnsson’s $3.4MM cap hit onto long-term injured reserve and replace him with several players from the minor leagues.

Aberg is the most interesting name in the group, if only because he hadn’t gotten a chance with the Maple Leafs prior to this recall. The 37th overall pick in 2012, he has bounced around from Nashville to Edmonton to Anaheim to Minnesota before arriving in Toronto, never spending a full season in the NHL. Through 22 games in the AHL this season, Aberg has 24 points to lead the Marlies and very well could get an opportunity alongside some of Toronto’s best players.

Mitch Marner Activated From Injured Reserve

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially activated Mitch Marner from long-term injured reserve, sending Martin Marincin and Nic Petan to the minor leagues in the process. Marner has been out for several weeks with a high-ankle sprain but is expected to be back in the lineup tonight against the Colorado Avalanche. The team has also activated Mason Marchment from season-opening injured reserve and sent him to the AHL.

Marner has yet to play a game for new head coach Sheldon Keefe, but he’ll get the chance to try out the Maple Leafs’ new puck possession system tonight as the team tries to right the ship. Coming off a 6-1 pounding at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto now sits 13-12-4 on the season and in a very precarious position.

Because of the huge cap number that the young forward brings, Trevor Moore has likely been moved to long-term injured reserve to clear a bit more and keep the Maple Leafs at 21 players for the time being. When he returns, the team will have to send another forward down to the minor leagues or make a trade of some sort.

Even with that kind of cap pressure, Marner’s return will be a huge boost to the group. After scoring 94 points last season to lead the club, he was off to another strong start with 18 in his first 18 games. While he’ll be back beside John Tavares tonight, it appears as though Ilya Mikheyev has taken the place of Zach Hyman on the left side despite that trio’s strong work last season.

Minor Transactions: 12/03/19

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There are ten games on the schedule for this evening around the NHL, including a rematch of the Eastern Conference Final when the Carolina Hurricanes travel to take on the Boston Bruins. The Bruins haven’t lost a game in regulation in nearly a month, while the Hurricanes are still battling to hold onto a Metropolitan Division playoff spot. As they and the rest of the league prepares for tonight, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves.

  • Nicolas Roy has been returned to the minor leagues by the Vegas Golden Knights, after his latest emergency recall. Roy has actually played in seven games for the NHL club this season, recording three points and six penalty minutes.
  • Curtis Lazar too has been sent to the minor leagues, this time by the Buffalo Sabres. The 24-year old has been great in the AHL, but still can’t find a level of consistency in the NHL that warrants a full-time roster spot.
  • With the Toronto Maple Leafs back in action tonight, Martin Marincin is back up to serve as insurance. The team likely won’t insert the lanky defenseman into the lineup unless an injury occurs, but now that he has cleared waivers he can pop up and down on game days.
  • Robin Lehner must have felt better this morning, as the Chicago Blackhawks returned Kevin Lankinen to the minor leagues. The young goaltender was recalled when Lehner was experiencing flu-like symptoms, but won’t get a chance to see any NHL action.
  • Cory Conacher is up in Tampa Bay, as the Lightning prepare for their game against the Nashville Predators. The move is likely done so that they’ll have an option if Alex Killorn can’t go tonight, though Conacher has plenty of experience if he’s forced into the lineup.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have recalled Josh Mahura and Max Comtois, while sending Max Jones back to the AHL. Jones has just five points in 23 games this season for the Ducks, but may get a chance to get his game back on track in the minor leagues. The Ducks’ young forwards are all having a tough go in the NHL this season but have plenty of time to grow and develop.
  • Filip Zadina and Taro Hirose have been sent to the minor leagues by the Detroit Red Wings, as the team doesn’t play again until Saturday. Zadina is a key part of the team’s future and actually has an assist in each of the last two NHL games he has played.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have made several changes, recalling Joel Persson while assigning Caleb Jones and Stuart Skinner to the minor leagues. Matt Benning has also been moved to injured reserve. With Skinner heading back to the AHL, Mike Smith must be healthy enough to at least serve as a backup for the Oilers.

Minor Transactions: 11/29/19

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If you weren’t satisfied with the afternoon football action yesterday, the NHL has a treat for you. The league gets an early start when the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins clash this afternoon, while eight other games also get early starts. In that first game of the day, the Rangers will try to somehow contain one of the league’s best lines and slow down David Pastrnak, who has six goals in his last five games.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have sent Martin Marincin to the minor leagues, where he’ll play against the Rochester Americans tonight. The Maple Leafs are in Buffalo to take on the Sabres and weren’t going to use Marincin, meaning he can get in some game action for the AHL Marlies instead.
  • With Steven Stamkos returning today after a short absence, the Tampa Bay Lightning have sent Cory Conacher to the minor leagues. Scott Wedgewood is up in his place, giving the team three goaltenders for the time being.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Clark Bishop, despite the 23-year old forward earning just three points in 19 games for the Charlotte Checkers this season. Bishop certainly isn’t known for his offensive chops and won’t be asked to play in that role for the Hurricanes, if he gets into a game at all.
  • Brett Seney has been sent to the minor leagues by the New Jersey Devils, who played in two games with the team during his recall. The 23-year old Seney has 18 points in 19 games for the Binghamton Devils this year after spending most of 2018-19 with New Jersey.
  • Joseph Blandisi has been recalled by the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of their game this evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Blandisi has been up and down all season, splitting time in the NHL and AHL.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have recalled Gustav Olofsson, placing Paul Byron on injured reserve to make room. Olofsson’s addition gives the team eight defensemen on the roster with Christian Folin still on his conditioning stint in the AHL.

Several Players Placed On Waivers

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Friday: All four players have cleared waivers. Lintuniemi will now see his contract terminated, while the other three can be sent to the minor leagues.

Thursday: The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed a pair of players on waivers in order to start clearing room for the nearing return of Zach Hyman. Martin Marincin and Nic Petan find themselves on waivers alongside Edmonton Oilers forward Tomas Jurco today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Alex Lintuniemi of the Carolina Hurricanes has also been placed on unconditional waivers.

Petan actually made it through waivers already this season but needs them again after spending at least 30 days on the NHL roster. The Maple Leafs had been trying to find a landing spot for him and Marincin, but neither appear to have generated much trade interest at this time. Teams can now claim them for free, though they would then have to stay on the NHL roster. Clearing waivers could potentially increase their value, though they also may just end up with the Toronto Marlies.

Toronto needs to clear a third roster player before activating Hyman off long-term injured reserve, and though the consensus seems to be that Jason Spezza is that player, Dmytro Timashov and Nick Shore remain candidates.

In Edmonton, the Oilers have apparently made the same determination other organizations had previously come to that Jurco isn’t consistent enough to keep on the NHL roster. Given a glorious opportunity to play in the top six with some of the game’s best players, Jurco never did grab hold of the spot and has just two points in 12 games. The 26-year old would be on his sixth organization if he were claimed.

For Lintuniemi, unconditional waivers likely precedes a mutual contract termination. After being left unqualified by the Los Angeles Kings, the 24-year old defenseman signed a one-year deal with Carolina this summer but has played just four games with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. He would become an unrestricted free agent once again should the termination go through.

Toronto Maple Leafs Open To Trading Martin Marincin

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Though it may not come as much of a surprise, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be open to trading Martin Marincin. After starting the year on the Maple Leafs’ third pairing, Marincin was recently replaced by Kevin Gravel in the lineup and now Travis Dermott has returned from injury to take the spot full-time. That leaves Marincin sitting in the press box every night and even that may be short lived.

The Maple Leafs will likely have to send three players to the minor leagues when Zach Hyman returns from long-term injured reserve in the next few weeks, and Marincin is expected to be one of them. The 27-year old defenseman would need to clear waivers in order to report to the AHL however, at which point any team in the league would be able to claim him.

Like Nic Petan, who is also available according to Friedman, Marincin hasn’t been able to establish himself as a favorite of head coach Mike Babcock and now finds himself without a real future in Toronto. The Marlies of the AHL already have a loaded group of defensemen, meaning if GM Kyle Dubas and the Toronto front office can find any value on the trade market it would obviously be worth it.

Another way this may play out however is for Marincin to hit waivers when Hyman returns, only to clear and then be traded. He cleared waivers as recently as this February, and it would give any acquiring team much more flexibility. They could then send Marincin to their own minor league affiliate to keep as depth.

In any case, whether he is available or not there’s little chance he’ll provide a big return for the Maple Leafs. In 207 career NHL games he’s shown little ability to perform at a high level, providing most of his value on the penalty kill. He has 30 points in those games, but none this season.

Toronto Will Have Some Tough Roster Decisions To Make Next Week

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are expecting to get back two key players from long-term injured reserve as defenseman Travis Dermott and forward Zach Hyman are both eligible to return on Saturday when Toronto faces Montreal. While that is great news for Maple Leafs fans, it might be quite a challenge as the team will have to make quite a few changes to their roster to fit those two back into their salary cap structure.

On Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported that Toronto may have to clear four players from their roster in order to get Dermott and Hyman onto their roster. He said the moves could be demotions to the Toronto Marlies, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Toronto made a trade or put a player on waivers.

Elliotte Friedman suggested in the same segment that Toronto is seeking to trade Nic Petan, who the Maple Leafs acquired at the trade deadline last season and isn’t a favorite of head coach Mike Babcock. Petan only played five games after the trade last year and has only appeared in three this year.

Dermott is coming off offseason shoulder surgery, while Hyman had surgery to repair his ACL which he tore during the playoffs last season. With the two on LTIR, the Maple Leafs, who are under the cap by just $380K, have saved $3.11MM on the cap. But when activated, the Maple Leafs will have to clear that much in order to keep both on the roster. While Petan might be an obvious choice, none of their bottom-line players (offense or defense) make much more than the minimum, which likely would force the team to make multiple moves, barring a bigger trade.

Other players who could be out could include Jason Spezza, Nick Shore, Justin Holl, Kevin Gravel and Martin Marincin.

Toronto’s Barrie Expected To Demand $8MM Next Year

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Although the Toronto Maple Leafs have plenty of obstacles still to deal with this offseason still, including working out a contract with restricted free agent Mitch Marner, the team may have even more problems approaching them a year from now.

While the Maple Leafs forwards should be in good shape next season as the team will have few to no free agents to worry about, the newly reconstructed defense will be an entirely different story as only one of their defenseman, Morgan Rielly, is signed beyond the 2019-20 season. The team has five unrestricted free agents blueliners and another two restricted free agents defenders, which could create quite a bit of unrest next summer.

However, to make matters worse, the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons writes that newly acquired Tyson Barrie is expecting to cash in on his next contract next summer and could be looking to demand an eight-year deal at $8MM per season next year. The 27-year-old has been incredibly consistent over the last few years, putting up 14 goals and a career-high 59 points last season and has averaged 49 points over the past six seasons. He is finishing up a four-year, $22MM contract at $5.5MM, but because Colorado retained half his salary, the team is only on the hook for a $2.75MM AAV this season. However, an $8MM contract could force the Maple Leafs to allow the blueliner to walk away for nothing.

The team will likely have to make some tough decisions as Jake Muzzin and Cody Ceci will also be unrestricted free agents. Much of those decisions will likely depend on how well they play next season and how their salaries can fit into their tight salary cap situation. The team has a few other lesser free agents, including Justin Holl and Martin Marincin, but they also may have to give significant raises to restricted free agents Travis Dermott and Ben Harpur. The team will get a small break next season when the contract of Nathan Horton and his $5.3MM finally expires, which should help, but that isn’t likely to solve all those problems either. There will be little money available to help the team out without more cost-cutting moves.

Maple Leafs Re-Sign Martin Marincin, Hire Dave Hakstol As Assistant Coach

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The Maple Leafs have kept one of their depth defenders around, announcing that they’ve re-signed Martin Marincin to a one-year, $700K contract.  The team also confirmed the previously-reported one-year, $700K deal for goaltender Michael Hutchinson.

Marincin was once regarded as a quality prospect in Edmonton but has since settled in as a depth player over his four seasons with Toronto.  In 2018-19, he spent most of the year as a reserve defender but still got into 24 games with the Maple Leafs, averaging over 15 minutes a night in those contests.  He also saw action in eight contests with the AHL Marlies which made it the second straight year he had cleared waivers and saw time at both levels.

Toronto’s salary cap crunch is well-known so the fact that Marincin took a small pay cut to drop to the league minimum salary is somewhat noteworthy.  That will certainly help his chances of remaining with the big club for next season, likely in the same role he had in 2018-19.  With 201 career NHL games under his belt, the Maple Leafs know what they have in Marincin and while his upside is more limited now than it once was believed to be, he can still be a small factor for them for another season.

In addition to those announcements, the team also revealed that they have hired former Philadelphia head coach Dave Hakstol as their new assistant coach to round out Mike Babcock’s coaching staff.  Hakstol spent part of four seasons behind the Flyers bench before being let go in December.  Toronto’s staff has undergone some changes this summer with the departures of D.J. Smith (to the Senators as head coach) and Jim Hiller (to the Islanders as an assistant) while also bringing in former Florida assistant Paul McFarland.

Free Agent Focus: Toronto Maple Leafs

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Free agency is now just a few days away and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Toronto has already locked up a few important names, but still has plenty of work to do before knowing what next season’s roster will look like. Here’s a closer look at their free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Mitch Marner — If this article had been written yesterday this section would have included the likes of Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, but it always all came down to Marner. The entire Maple Leafs’ offseason is revolving around him at the moment, with the uncertainty of when Toronto will sign his next contract. That is of course if it’s signed at all by the Maple Leafs, as offer sheet speculation has never been as high as it seems to be regarding the 22-year old star. A huge part of that speculation is the market he plays in, but Marner is reportedly seeking a huge raise that would make him one of the (if not the) highest paid wingers in the league.

There’s good reason for Marner to believe in himself and his abilities. The undersized forward dominated the OHL before and after the Maple Leafs selected him fourth overall in 2015, and he began his NHL career without missing a step. 61 points his first season, 69 his second and a whopping 94 points in 2018-19 made him one of the most lethal offensive weapons in the game, even if that last jump was at least in part due to the addition of John Tavares. Not only is Marner an incredible playmaker, but he also took on a penalty killing role with the Maple Leafs this season and became one of head coach Mike Babcock’s most trusted defensive forwards.

None of the reports and rumors from either side mean much to GM Kyle Dubas and Marner’s agent Darren Ferris, who need to work out a deal at some point if the Maple Leafs are going to proceed with the rest of their offseason. The team currently has just $6.9MM in cap space but can exceed the limit during the offseason or move Nathan Horton to long-term injured reserve. That still doesn’t leave much room for free agent additions because, as Dubas told Chris Johnston of Sportsnet today, they “have got to save space for Mitch.”

Other RFAs: F Michael Carcone

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: D Jake Gardiner — If the Maple Leafs had more cap space there is no doubt that they would be trying to keep Gardiner in town, given the state of their defense corps without him. Even though he’s not the right-handed option they so desperately need, his depature—and the potential trade of Nikita Zaitsev—could leave them with just three proven NHL options in the whole organization in Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Travis Dermott. That’s a horrendous position to be in, even if it is with several months remaining before the start of the year. Gardiner though will likely be priced out of the Maple Leafs’ range given his history as a top puck-moving option. Though he is derided by many for the occasional what-was-he-thinking giveaway, Gardiner has amassed 245 points in his 551 game career including a career-high of 52 in 2017-18. An excellent offensive catalyst at even-strength, he’ll likely earn himself quite the payday on July 1.

D Ron Hainsey — The other big departure from the Maple Leafs blue line is Hainsey, even if he did turn 38 in late March. His agent confirmed that he will continue playing as long as there is interest, and after a +30 season playing alongside Rielly on the top pairing there won’t be any shortage of teams calling. Hainsey is not the offensive player he once was—remember that years ago he was an excellent powerplay quarterback—but he can still contribute and log big minutes in almost every situation. A favorite of Babcock, he could sign a bonus-laden deal if teams aren’t willing to give him a second year.

F Tyler Ennis — Perhaps overlooked for the Maple Leafs this year because of their star-studded forward group, Ennis took a minimum salary contract in order to try and build his value back up and he did it wonderfully. Even fighting through an injury that limited him to 51 games, the undersized forward scored 12 goals from the fourth line and showed he can still play at the NHL level. A three-time 20-goal scorer, the 29-year old Ennis should secure another NHL deal to provide a little scoring depth at a relatively inexpensive price—but probably one the Maple Leafs can’t afford.

Other UFAs: D Igor Ozhiganov, D Martin Marincin, F Gabriel Gagne, F Chris Mueller, F Nicholas Baptiste, D Vincent LoVerde, D Jordan Subban, D Steven Oleksy, G Eamon McAdam

Projected Cap Space: The Maple Leafs currently sit a little more than $6.94MM under the cap ceiling according to CapFriendly, but can also put Horton’s $5.3MM deal on long-term injured reserve if necessary to give them some more flexibility. That number is only including the cap hits for 18 players however, meaning they actually have even less than that once they decide who will be making the roster.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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