The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to get back in the win column as they host the Colorado Avalanche at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. The Leafs have been a .500 club (4-4-0) with Frederik Andersen out injured, but after participating in practice on Sunday, the club’s starting goaltender will make his first start since December 22nd.
Frederik Andersen (groin / illness) and Garret Sparks (concussion) are the only two goalies on the ice at Leafs practice
“(Andersen) is our guy, he hasn’t played in a long time. The doctors and trainers were real careful to make sure (he was healthy), he’s a real important part of the team.” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the club’s optional morning skate. “He’s had a good rest and a good time off. Between the goalie coach (Steve Briere) and him, they say he’s up and running and ready to go, so he gets his opportunity to go today.”
Garret Sparks also received his medical clearance for concussion issues and will backup Andersen, but the club has not sent Michael Hutchinson back to the American Hockey League, since they have an open spot on the 23-man roster after the injury to Tyler Ennis and demotion of Trevor Moore.
Hutchinson was solid between the pipes in his stint with the Leafs (2-3-0, 2.64 GAA and .914 save percentage), but likely will not get another start unless either Andersen or Sparks has a long-term injury. The 28-year-old played four games with Florida before being acquired for a fifth round pick on December 29 and appeared in five games with Toronto.
If Hutchinson played in his 10th NHL game this season, he would have to go through waivers to be assigned to the Toronto Marlies, and would almost surely be claimed with a number of teams looking for goaltending depth.
Colorado holds the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference with a 20-17-8 record (48 points), but have lost nine of their last 10 games (1-7-2). The Leafs will be looking to keep Nathan MacKinnon-Gabriel Landeskog-Mikko Rantanen line in check. The Avs top unit has two players in the top 10 of NHL scoring(MacKinnon and Rantanen) and nearly half of their goals at the halfway mark of the season.
Semyon Varlamov will get the start for Colorado.
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In looking forward to the NHL Trade Deadline, a positive aspect is that it appears teams like them who will be buyers could potentially have many options.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated on HNIC’s Saturday Headlines that many teams that have already determined that they will be selling before February 25 and are worried that the market will be flooded with available players and could get stuck with them.
That fact will lower the leverage for teams looking to sell and be more reasonable in their asking price. While star players like Artemi Panarin, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, Sergei Bobrovsky and Wayne Simmonds will still be pricey because of multiple teams being interested, players with expiring contracts who are less prominent could be dealt for significantly less than expected.
For the Leafs, the rental defensive market is thin past pending free agents Erik Karlsson, Tyler Myers, Anton Stralman and Jake Gardiner (who are all unlikely to be moved since they are playing for contending teams) and Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has indicated going that he is looking more to acquire players with term left on their contract prior to the deadline.
Options like veterans Niklas Kronwall, Jay Bouwmeester or Nik Jensen are possible, but would not address the Leafs need for a top four defenseman capable of playing with Morgan Rielly or enabling Mike Babcock to move Ron Hainsey or Nikita Zaitsev down in the lineup.
While Dubas may be able to acquire some veteran forward depth or the “heavy” players that Babcock has hinted at for a low cost, getting the blueline help that the club desperately needs will be costly.
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