The 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday kept the club the Toronto Maple Leafs at the bottom of the NHL standings, but the five teams within three points all managed to lose and maintain their close proximity.
While Toronto has a game in hand on Columbus, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Calgary and four more games than Edmonton, they play five of their remaining eight games on the road and three in the next four nights against Tampa, Florida and Buffalo.
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The scoring exploits of Phil Kessel has Toronto one step closer to another first round pick in the upcoming draft. The former Leaf had seven points for the Pittsburgh Penguins in weekend wins over Detroit and the NY Rangers.
The Penguins are now seven points in front of Philadelphia and Detroit for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot with less than two weeks remaining and if they make the post-season, they will surrender their top pick as a condition of the Kessel deal last July.
The odds are slim that GM Lou Lamoriello will move up or down from where the Leafs end up with their top pick, since the cost of trading into the top three would be prohibitive and Toronto is looking for an impact player and trading down would not be consistent with that goal.
The Pittsburgh pick could be in the late teens or 20's depending on where the Penguins finish and when they are eliminated and with 12 picks in the upcoming draft, Lamoriello could use some of those extra picks to move up into the middle of the first round if Mark Hunter has targeted a player.
That is the exact opposite of what Toronto did in Sunrise, FL last June, when they traded the first round pick acquired from Nashville in the Cody Franson deal to Philadelphia for an extra second rounder (which turned out to be Jeremy Bracco) and then traded out of the first round for a high second and a three rounder.
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Toronto prospect Travis Dermott started off the OHL Playoffs with a bang, as the Leafs 2015 second rounder registered a goal and four assists in weekend wins over the Saginaw Spirit.
Minnesota-Duluth's 3-2 loss to Boston College on Sunday marks the end of the college career of 2011 Leafs draft pick Tony Cameranesi. The 22-year-old center had a goal and two assists in two games during the NCAA Tournament and is now free to be signed to an entry-level contract with Toronto, but there is some question whether the Leafs will be willing to use a pro contract on another small, skilled forward (5'10", 190 lb) and prospect selected by former GM Brian Burke.
On another college player potentially of interest to Toronto, the Nashville Predators released a statement regarding the status of unsigned 2012 draft pick Jimmy Vesey, saying the 22-year-old and the club would discuss him signing over the "next several days".
It remains unclear whether the Hobey Baker finalist will agree to a deal with the Preds or choose to wait until the summer and become an unrestricted free agent.
The fact that Vesey did not sign immediately is a bad sign for Nashville, since there is little to haggle over. The Harvard captain has to be signed to an entry-level contract wherever he goes and the only potential area of negotiation are the level of bonuses, but it is hard to believe that the Preds would not give him the top bonus package.
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