The Leafs haven’t played in a week and a half, but return to action tonight to take on the New York Islanders. Under new Head Coach Patrick Roy, the Islanders have produced a record of 1-2-1, which isn’t the bump that they had previously hoped for, I’m sure. As is the case with so many teams, the Isles bring their best against the Leafs every time and I’m sure they’re ready to go for tonight’s tilt, as it presents an opportunity to start off on the right foot after the All-Star break and start stringing together some wins in an attempt to get back into the playoff picture.
The Leafs, on the other hand, have won three straight games and have done it off of the back of a surprisingly resurgent Ilya Samsonov. With a combined 0.955SV% in those three games and having allowed just 3 goals, there’s some encouragement that Sammy could be back on his game and ready to lead the team down the stretch and into the playoffs.
For me, I still want a new goaltender. I know it’s a feel good story, seeing a guy turn things around after he has admitted that it’s been the toughest challenge to stay sharp mentally in his career, but if you can fall off the proverbial cliff like he did early in the year, then you can do it again in Round 1 of the playoffs. This, for me, could present an opportunity to move on from Samsonov and his 3.55M caphit without having to pay valuable trade assets to do so. Also, now that the Calgary Flames have committed to moving on from some players, I wonder about Swedish netminder Jacob Markstrom. The 34 year old is signed through the 2025-26 season, with a caphit of 6M. He’s playing well and may not have a taste for going through a rebuild, or retool, or whatever label the Flames wish to put on their current direction. Carrying a full NMC could help or hinder the situation, as he would be in a position where he could pick his destination, but that may be as far away from Toronto as he can possibly get. While I’m not sure that the Leafs have the assets to trade for Markstrom, or even would trade for him if they could, it’s still a nice little daydream to have.
The biggest challenge of the night may be getting All-Star selections Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander to wake up and play the game. They always seem to come out of the breaks (doesn’t matter which break) in a lull and it takes a few games to get them going again. While Morgan Rielly was also selected as an NHL All-Star this year, he doesn’t tend to come out as flat as the others.
Lastly, this is always a great thing to see. Good on Bertuzzi for doing it: