Quick Shifts: Maple Leafs must pounce on Lightning’s biggest weakness

By Anthony On Apr 22, 2023

A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. You can take away my blue checkmark, but you can never take away my right to read hurtful replies by complete strangers.

1. To understand the gravity of what the Tampa Bay Lightning defence corps is dealing with, subtract T.J. Brodie and Jake McCabe from the Toronto Maple Leafs and see how things look.

With half of the Bolts’ top four — Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak — nursing undisclosed injuries (’tis the season), the Maple Leafs’ forecheckers and cycle-spinners had their way with inexperienced defenders such as Haydn Fleury, Darren Raddysh and Nick Perbix in Game 2’s blowout.

No discredit to the Bolts’ long resumé of resilience, but subtract Hedman, Cernak and 2022 blueline staple Ryan McDonagh from their blue line, and there is a clear on-paper advantage for Toronto as the series shifts south.

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“Everyone knows how important they are to our back end,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “No one’s feeling sorry for you if you’re missing guys. Especially at this time of year. That’s unfortunately part of the game. Obviously, tough to see them both not be able to play. Very good players, very important to us.”

So important, if Norris-winning Hedman — who is skating, albeit tentatively — can’t return, we may look back at defensive depth as the pivot point of this series.

“I mean, those guys are really important players for them, and they’re great defenders and big parts of their team,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe after Game 2’s bounce-back. “So, it was important for us to capitalize on them not being in.

“At the same time, they’re a team that they are who they are in lots of ways because they’ve dealt with all sorts of adversity along the way. They won a Stanley Cup (in 2020) basically playing without their captain. Those kinds of things don’t faze that team.

“But we knew we had to get on top of them, for sure.”

The Lightning aren’t breaking out or stuffing cycles nearly as well in the absence of Hedman and Cernak. Their special teams have taken a hit, too.

Hedman should be first to return, but his status remains up in the air until further medical examination. And if does play this weekend, he won’t be 100 per cent.

Tampa, naturally, refuses to lean into excuses — even if they’re legit.

“Listen, this has nothing to do with Victor Hedman being out of the game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after Thursday’s loss. “We’ve won games in this league without Victor Hedman. … In the end, did we play hard enough to win? Probably not.

“But it’s not because one guy was out. That would just be a poor, poor excuse.”

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Heck, this is the same club that lost Brayden Point in Round 1 last spring against these same Leafs and still made it to Round 4.

“It’s something we’ve prepared for and something we can handle,” said Cooper, digging in. “We use the word sacrifice, and I’m sure other teams do. It’s, do you actually mean it? That’s the difference. It just can’t be a cliché. It has to be something you live by.”

While we love the pep talk, we can’t help but think of Toronto GM Kyle Dubas’s trade deadline and the fact the Leafs have two NHL-ready D-men, Timothy Liljegren and Erik Gustafsson, rested and ready if they are to run into a similar problem.

Defensive depth is no cliché, and it might just give Toronto an edge.

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2. As with all GMs and Battleship games, Pierre Dorion has earned his share of hits and misses.

In the moment, the Ottawa Senators’ bold swing to acquire Alex DeBrincat from Chicago at the 2022 draft felt like a win.

But DeBrincat’s just-OK contract year and GM Dorion’s inability to extend his prized winger complicate matters.

Ottawa surrendered first- and second-round picks in 2022 (Nos. 7 and 39 overall) plus a third-round choice in 2024 for one winter of DeBrincat, plus an exclusive negotiating window that has (so far) proven unfruitful.

At the trade deadline, the Senators were in a similar position with DeBrincat as the San Jose Sharks were with Timo Meier. One team recouped assets; the other played it cool and hoped.

DeBrincat’s steep qualifying offer ($9 million) complicates an extension. He did not play like a $9-million star this year, but Dorion is prepared to make that RFA offer while hoping to lower DeBrincat’s AAV in exchange for term.

Dorion has enough cap room to extend DeBrincat and certainly doesn’t want this marriage to end as a one-year rental to nowhere, but the player holds all the leverage at this point.

DeBrincat isn’t jumping to commit, and the uncertainty of Ottawa’s ownership throws a wrinkle into negotiations.

This will grow into a louder off-season debate.

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3. Zdeno Chara hasn’t been retired one year, and the big man is already out here running the Boston Marathon in 3:38:23. Wearing bib number 3333 no less.

Get this gigantic miracle of a man into the Hall of Fame, yesterday.

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4. Funny how time flies and opinions change.

After the initial backlash surrounding Tom Wilson’s six-year, $31-million contract extension in Washington, he is now widely viewed as good value and is on track to become one of the more intriguing free agents of 2024.

Wilson is eligible to re-sign in D.C. as early as July 1, but with the Capitals changing coaches amidst a reset, the enforcer/scorer’s future gets compelling.

For his part, Wilson wants to make it clear that he’d like to remain inside the only NHL sweater he has worn, rebuild be damned:

“Everyone knows I love it here and I want to be here, no matter what happens,” Wilson told reporters on locker cleanout day. “I’m not a guy that’s going to play hardball or say I don’t want to be here … I want to help this city win games, and I think — who knows what’s going to happen over the summer into next year — if I do my job and we start winning games and the team’s playing well, there’s not going to be a lot of question marks.”

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5. As fascinating as it will be to see who secures the next general manager job for the Calgary Flames — Craig Conroy must be the favourite by a red mile — we’re even more curious about the future of Brad Treliving.

Former GM Treliving, a descendant of the Boston Pizza empire, doesn’t need the money, but he loves the game and is respected by peers and employees alike.

In an industry where executive gigs are so scarce, Treliving chose his own exit and should be a coveted free agent.

Pittsburgh already cleaned house, but timing is critical here as the off-season carousel for coaches and GMs starts revving up.

Eight teams will fail in Round 1. More turnover is coming.

Treliving can sit back and let things unfold.

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6. I understand that the Minnesota Wild alternated starts between its two-headed goaltending monster down the regular-season stretch run to positive results. We’re in the tandem era.

But that doesn’t make me hate coach Dean Evason’s decision to go with Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 2 any less.

Filip Gustavsson makes 51 saves en route to a 3-2 double-OT win in Game 1 on the road, swiping back home-ice advantage. And then you make a switch?

The playoffs just began, and Gustavsson’s brilliance could be in the heads of Dallas’ shooters. He had confidence, and the skaters in front of him had it in him.

Not the time for load management.

Win and you’re out? Really?

So, Fleury goes in for Game 2 and gives up seven goals on 31 shots.

Evason squeezes more out of his roster than most NHL bench bosses, but this is a case of galaxy-braining gone wrong.

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7. Taking the exact opposite approach to its crease is Florida.

Paul Maurice stuck with his lovable underdog Alex Lyon despite taking the L in Game 1 against the juggernaut Boston Bruins.

Watching Lyon get his 11th consecutive start for the Panthers, with $10-million man Sergei Bobrovsky sitting on the bench in a ballcap, is inspiring stuff.

It is sport at its best: performance over perception.

Money results over a monetary investment.

Journeyman minor-leaguer Lyon mirrors his entire team in that he has nothing to lose. He’s playing free and brave. What a story.

The Panthers pumped all this faith and cap space in Bobrovsky and his presumptive successor, Spencer Knight, only to see an AHL lifer backstop them into the playoffs and, suddenly, an intriguing Round 1 series against the winningest regular-season outfit in history.

It’s hard not to catch some Chris Driedger echoes here.

The 28-year-old turned a few good months with the Cats into a three-year, $10.5-million contract with the Seattle Kraken.

This one run by the good-vibes-only Lyon (working on a Charlie Bucket–like $750,000 cap hit) could set up his great-grandkids for life.

He’s not young (he’s 30) or big by any means, but goaltenders who perform under pressure get a leg up come free agency. And Lyon is roaring at the perfect time.

The 2023 UFA class of goalies is thin. The injury-plagued Tristan Jarry of the non-playoff Penguins may be the top dog.

Let’s see how far Lyon can milk this.

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8. My stomach turned seeing Joe Pavelski dazed and confused after a damaging hit by Matt Dumba in Game 1. (I swear the damage was done before his head hit the ice, otherwise he would’ve braced himself.)

Pavelski is one of the savviest players in the league, a driver on and off the ice for Dallas, and a universally respected talent who appears high on the Selke ballot I submitted this week.

Yet the 82-game regular season has turned into such a light-hitting tour that even Pavelski, the NHL’s most senior forward, wasn’t prepared for Dumba to come off his check and deliver a hard one in an unsuspecting area of the ice.

Maybe the contact was a tad late, but it wasn’t playoff-late.

Here’s hoping Pavelski rebounds and returns to an intense series — and that the incident serves as a reminder to all players just how drastically the rules of engagement change come Game 83.

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9. Public service announcement: Luke Schenn is a southpaw.

Guard your grill accordingly.

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10. Is it a coincidence that the NHL threw the book at Michael Bunting for a blatant headshot that took place mere hours after Gary Bettman did an interview with NPR?

During his chat, the commissioner said he remains unconvinced there is a connection between playing NHL hockey and CTE, the degenerative brain disease.

Publicly, with lawsuits looming, the league must be proactive in discouraging head injuries.

Here are some clips from Bettman.

On fighting during NHL games: “Roughly 80 per cent of our games do not have fights. That’s probably a record low. The types of fights we have compared to years ago are spontaneous emotional reactions to what takes place on the ice. We don’t have players who are designated fighters like we used to in the old game. The role of fighting in the game has evolved and really acts as the thermostat, because, remember, we have a very fast, physical, emotional game where players are encouraged to have body contact. And, by the way, they happen to be carrying sticks.”

On the NHL diversity and inclusion report that found 84 per cent of league employees are white: “That was a number that was not unexpected. But making the decision to have such a report and make it public is consistent with our goal of making sure that we’re welcoming and inclusive and that we’re going to hold ourselves accountable in a very public fashion as to how we’re progressing to improve and increase our diversity. So, having that report and making it public was a conscious effort to say, we’re going to do better.”

On some players and teams refusing to participate in NHL Pride Nights: “Clubs make their own decisions. To the extent that they have Pride Nights, the elements that they put into them have always been left up to the clubs, and it’s always been left to the players as to who wants to participate. And, overwhelmingly, our clubs and our players support Pride Night and what it stands for. And I don’t think that the notion that a couple of players on each team or on some teams were not comfortable wearing pride jerseys is not an indictment. To the contrary, you have to be tolerant of all views and all expressions. And sometimes respect and endorsements are not the same thing.”

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11. Whining about officiating is the lowest common denominator. I’ve watched games in all 32 cities, and the only common chant on game night is “Ref! You! Suck!”

That said, seeing the Hurricanes get six power plays at home in Game 2 while the Islanders received zero was something else.

Particularly when Scott Mayfield got high-sticked (and ignored) moments before Carolina’s overtime winner.

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Some argue that Mayfield is responsible because he initiated a stick-lift.

Disagree.

Players are responsible for their own weapons going above shoulder height.

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12. How beautiful is it that, two games in, both the Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho and the New York Islanders’ Sebastian Aho scored on Ilya Sorokin?

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks announced the highly anticipated signing of Elias Pettersson to a three-year contract this week. No. Their other one.

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