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Latest On Timo Meier

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The Timo Meier-to-New Jersey train has been gathering speed for the last few weeks. It seems like a perfect fit, and now with the New York Islanders and New York Rangers both loading up with Bo Horvat and Vladimir Tarasenko respectively, the Devils might have to keep pace.

Today, though, on the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman suggested that two other teams could be involved in Meier trade talks. The first, which shouldn’t surprise many, is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Friedman noted that Kyle Dubas’ recent comments about not spending high picks and prospects were contingent on the term “rentals,” which, technically, Meier isn’t. The San Jose Sharks forward has a $10MM qualifying offer this offseason and has reportedly been open to potentially signing an extension wherever he lands, should it make sense.

One guy said to me that there are teams out there thinking that Toronto, at the very least have considered: ’do we go get Meier for this run, and then sort it out later.’ Basically punt the decision to the summer. 

Toronto isn’t the only one, though. Friedman notes there are a number of Eastern Conference teams after Meier and at least a few from the West. One of those is the Winnipeg Jets, apparently, who Friedman has also heard about in regard to Meier. With a new coaching staff the Jets look like a lock for the playoffs again and could even still compete for the Central Division crown with a good stretch run. With Blake Wheeler coming off the cap after the 2023-24 season, they’ll also have some flexibility in terms of a long-term extension if they were to land the star winger.

Almost everything surrounding Meier right now is speculative, though. The Sharks appear ready to wait out the market and make sure they get the biggest haul possible, and for a good reason. The 26-year-old Meier is a legitimate difference-maker, who already has 30 goals this season and can drive a line by himself. You don’t always have a chance to acquire in-their-prime assets at the deadline, especially not forwards that can play 20 minutes a night.

If Toronto and Winnipeg do get involved, it won’t be an easy bidding war. Things are set up to be quite beneficial for the Sharks, even if they are selling off a beloved homegrown star.

Dubas Not Planning To Move Top Trade Assets, Knies Undecided On Turning Pro After College Season

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The Maple Leafs are certainly going to be looking to buy heading into next month’s trade deadline but as a result of the team making some splashes in recent years, their prospect pool and collection of draft picks isn’t the deepest to deal from.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Kyle Dubas indicated that he can’t see the team dealing away their top chips, either their first-round pick or top prospect Matthew Knies.  He wouldn’t entirely rule out the idea of one of those pieces moving but for the time being, it appears that they’re not going to be in play.  Toronto has three other guaranteed selections plus potentially their own third-round pick depending on if Arizona opts to take it or a 2025 second-rounder as part of a previous swap.

  • Still with the Maple Leafs, while Knies has been speculated to be turning pro at the conclusion of his college season, he told TSN’s Mark Masters that he hasn’t decided which route to take yet and will wait until after Minnesota’s campaign comes to an end before considering his decision. The 20-year-old averaged a point per game in his rookie year last season and is ahead of that pace in 2022-23 with 17 goals and 13 assists in 28 contests.

Auston Matthews Calls Himself "Day To Day"

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It’s been over two weeks since Auston Matthews last suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs, missing the last three games before the All-Star break with a knee sprain. Matthews told reporters today that he doesn’t know when he’ll be back in the lineup but will “take it day to day” as he rejoins his team for practice.

Toronto Maple Leafs Extend Conor Timmins

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have locked up one of their in-season additions, signing Conor Timmins to a two-year contract extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1.1MM.

Timmins, 24, was acquired from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Curtis Douglas earlier this season, and quickly found a home at the back end of Toronto’s blueline depth chart. In 18 games with the Maple Leafs, he has 12 points, showing off his quick decision-making and strong passing ability to find the team’s talented forwards.

While he isn’t yet a regular in the lineup, rotating in and out with the likes of Jordie Benn, Timmins is a nice future play for a Maple Leafs team that is always pushing right up against the cap ceiling. At $1.1MM, he’s cheap enough to even be a seventh defenseman, but more likely, he slides into the group full-time next season on the third pairing. Justin Holl, who currently logs big minutes on the right side, is scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer, while T.J. Brodie and Mark Giordano’s contracts expire the year after that.

Douglas, on the other hand, has just nine points in 39 AHL games split between the Toronto Marlies and Tucson Roadrunners this season. The 6’9″ forward is a powerhouse on the ice and showed some nice offensive progression last year, but appears to have taken a step back in that regard. Still, he’s won’t turn 23 for another month and as we’ve seen in recent years, players his size often take a little bit longer to develop.

The book isn’t written on the trade just yet, but so far, the Maple Leafs are way out ahead. Timmins will be a cheap option for the team the next two years, and will still be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025, able to sign another extension if everything works out.

Matt Murray Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are back from the All-Star break and will be back in action with a home-and-home against the Columbus Blue Jackets starting tomorrow night. It doesn’t look like they’ll have one of their regular goaltenders for the back-to-back situation, though, as Matt Murray landed on injured reserve today.

Toronto has recalled Pontus Holmberg, Alex Steeves, and goaltender Joseph Woll from the AHL.

It’s been the same story for Murray this season. Pretty good when healthy – not healthy often enough. This is his second stint on injured reserve, after missing a month with a groin injury earlier on. He’s played in 19 games so far, posting a .911 save percentage, but hasn’t appeared since January 17. The lion’s share of the goaltending duties will again fall on Ilya Samsonov, who has done well so far carrying the load but is still relatively inexperienced.

Samsonov, 25, set a career-high with 39 starts last season and finished with his worst performance since debuting in 2019. While his .913 save percentage so far for the Maple Leafs is encouraging, pushing him every night is a recipe for disaster. Toronto needs two goaltenders that they can rely on, and so far, that hasn’t been Murray.

Perhaps it will be Woll, who is having a fantastic bounce-back after recovering from injury. Through 14 games for the Toronto Marlies, he is 13-1 with a .930 save percentage. The 24-year-old was a highly touted prospect at one point, but has struggled to stay healthy through the early part of his career and has just four appearances in the NHL so far.

There is no clear timeline for Murray’s return, but he was on the ice today at practice. Since he has been out so long, his IR stay can be backdated to allow his activation whenever deemed healthy enough to go.

Maple Leafs Could Make Several Deadline Moves

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  • Meier has also been tenuously linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are the focus of Chris Johnston’s latest for NorthStar Bets. The NHL insider details the Maple Leafs’ openings and assets, hinting they may make multiple moves this deadline to bolster different positions. Just as we wrote in our recent Trade Deadline Primer, though, Toronto’s pile of assets to choose from is looking rather small at the moment.

Trade Deadline Primer: Toronto Maple Leafs

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With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It has been nearly 20 years since the Maple Leafs won a playoff round. Despite six-straight appearances in the Auston Matthews–Mitch Marner era, the team hasn’t been able to find any success in the postseason. With another first-round date with the Tampa Bay Lightning all but sealed, every effort from the management staff needs to help get them over the hump.

Remember, Matthews and William Nylander are scheduled for unrestricted free agency after next season, with Marner and John Tavares only under contract through 2024-25. General manager Kyle Dubas is once again looking at making a significant trade deadline move to try and support this core before it is too late.

Record

31-13-8, 2nd in the Atlantic

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$1.13MM in LTIR relief, 0/3 retention slots used, 49/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2023: TOR 1st, TOR 3rd, OTT 3rd, TOR 5th, TOR 6th
2024: TOR 1st, TOR 2nd, TOR 4th, TOR 5th, TOR 6th, TOR 7th, OTT 7th

Trade Chips

At last year’s deadline, the Maple Leafs were able to hold onto their first-round pick, moving three seconds and a third for Mark Giordano, Colin Blackwell, and Ilya Lyubushkin. This year, that top selection probably has to be on the table in any negotiations that include an impact player. The 2024 first-round pick is also probably in play, though beyond that, there isn’t a ton of draft capital they can move.

So it comes to the prospect pool for Toronto, which is also relatively shallow. Matthew Knies was seemingly untouchable last summer, but perhaps the Maple Leafs would consider moving him this time around in the right deal. Nick Robertson would have been a piece, but given his latest serious injury, he’s likely off the table. Topi Niemela and Roni Hirvonen are mid-level prospects at best that likely can’t bring back a serious difference-maker by themselves.

The focus could turn to some roster players, though that avenue also doesn’t hold much value for rebuilding clubs. Alexander Kerfoot could be included in a deal to clear some cap space, but he shouldn’t really be considered a trade chip. The young defensemen – Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren in particular – are likely too valuable to Toronto’s future to make them available.

Among teams looking to add at the deadline, Toronto probably has one of the worst asset pools to pull from. That means Dubas and company will have to look for creative ways to improve the roster instead of getting into a bidding war on the top names. It’s hard to imagine them winning a player like Timo Meier, for instance, when they have to compete with deep, young prospect pools like the ones in New Jersey or Buffalo.

That’s not to say they won’t try. Toronto has added every year to try and fill gaps on the roster, and this year should be no different.

Other potential trade chips: F Fraser Minten, F Nick Moldenhauer, F Pierre Engvall, F Pontus Holmberg

Team Needs

1) Top-six winger: There is a glaring hole in the Maple Leafs lineup, and it’s been there for a number of years now. The second-line left wing spot has been filled by a number of different players – Kerfoot, Ilya Mikheyev, Alex Galchenyuk, Calle Jarnkrok – but none of them have been a perfect fit. It’s why a player like Meier continues to get linked to Toronto and why every other winger likely will be speculated on in the coming weeks.

2) Third-line center: For a team that is usually considered “loaded” offensively, it might seem weird to see two forwards listed here. The truth is, though, that Toronto is a relatively strong defensive team, with eight capable NHL defensemen on the roster already. Could they improve the back end? Sure. But a true third-line center that can drive some offense would be more valuable.

David Kampf, currently in that role, set a career-high last season with 26 points and has just 32 goals in his 369-game NHL career. One of the problems the Maple Leafs have faced in recent years is that if the Matthews and Tavares lines get shut down, the team has no chance of scoring. Getting someone who can elevate his linemates and drive play on the third line would move them a lot closer than a marginal upgrade on defense.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Joseph Woll

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have once again added goalie Joseph Woll on an emergency recall, per CapFriendly.

Toronto recalled Woll last week after Matt Murray sustained a minor ankle injury. He was expected to be evaluated after All-Star weekend, and the fact that Toronto elected to bring Woll back up likely isn’t a good sign.

Woll was sent down to the minors on February 2 to participate in the AHL All-Star Classic. After starting the season on injured reserve, Woll has a sparkling 13-1-0 record and a .930 save percentage in 14 games with the Toronto Marlies.

Murray’s last appearance was on January 17th, and Samsonov has started every game since. While the break has allowed Samsonov to get some much-needed rest, Woll’s strong AHL performance could lead to him getting an NHL start soon. He did well in four appearances last season, posting a 3-1-0 record, a shutout, and a .911 save percentage.

Defense Reportedly Toronto's "Main Focus" At Trade Deadline

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have returned a more well-balanced team than in recent seasons, with goals scored and goals against both down. Improved team defense and capable goaltending from Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray have spearheaded that trend, and with impressive performances from younger players such as Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren, and Conor Timmins, some have questioned Toronto’s need to add a defenseman at the trade deadline.

Toronto Maple Leafs To Host 2024 All-Star Game

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With the on-ice festivities today in South Florida also came some important NHL business notes, courtesy of commissioner Gary Bettman at his pre-game press conference. As part of his media availability today, Bettman confirmed the rumor that Toronto will play host to the 2024 NHL All-Star Game.

It’s the first time Toronto has hosted the event since 2000 and the first time a Canadian market has hosted the event in 12 years. Ottawa was the last, hosting the 2012 All-Star Game. It also marks the return to where the All-Star Game began, first as a charity event in 1934 for Toronto forward Ace Bailey after he sustained a career-ending injury, and also where it was officially established in 1947. Whether the NHL will adjust the format or skills events, which have received their fair share of criticism in recent years, is unknown.

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