TORONTO – Back in the days when bills were owed by the group of young qualifying Toronto Maple Leafs forwards, it was common to wonder if they were able to overcome the limitations of the NHL’s maximum wage system and placing a top layer of support around Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner. and William Nelander.
Consider Kyle Dupas’ unannounced follow-up to “We can and we will. “
The foliage returns to health as the Stanley Cup qualifiers draw closer, and they showed a team in Tuesday’s practice that should be very close to reality when they step into the Top Seven with either Montreal or Winnipeg. .
Regular season mainstays Alex Galichinyuk and Pierre Ingeval appeared from the outside, looking inwards. The possible availability of Rasmus Sandin (salary ceiling scratched) or Zak Boghossian (shoulder injury) has not been taken into account.
And he still looks majestic.
Hayman Matthews Marner
Foligno Tavares Nelander
Kerfoot Nash Mikheev
Thornton Spitza Symonds
Riley Brody
Muzzin everything
Houghton Dermot
Campbell
Anderson
“I think we’re the best team I’ve seen here,” said Jake Muzin, frankly and without exaggerating. “As far as depth, squeal, skill, defense and goalkeepers. It really feels good and it’s a strong team. ”
“We will need everyone to buy here for this to continue for the long haul.”
That group of 20 alone represents a gross cap of $ 85.15 million in a league that currently operates under a cap of $ 81.5 million. And that doesn’t take into account the cost of the options available behind them, which include, but are not limited to: Galchenyuk, Engvall, Adam Brooks, Nick Robertson, Stefan Noesen, Denis Malgin, Nic Petan, Sandin, Bogosian, Timothy Liljegren , David Ritesh and Michael Hutchinson.
The Leafs themselves have grown in all directions to make it all work – spending significant capital to acquire contracts with Nick Foligno and Riley Nash with maximum retention by the trade deadline, and not being able to play at all. world in these last two games of the regular season while remaining within the limit.
they or they Andersen will return to goal On Wednesday’s visit to Ottawa, which should be seen as a bonus after it was set aside for long-term losses last month to provide space to add Foligno, Nash, Ben Hutton and Rich before the deadline.
It wouldn’t have been possible without Bogusian and Hayman’s subsequent injuries, but these could end up being a blessing in disguise, with Andersen not having played the game in the NHL since March 19 due to knee problems. He saw this as another step to push him up to speed after 95 minutes of work in the American Hockey League last week.
“Fred has played a lot of games in the NHL, and he’s got a lot of experience, so you won’t read a lot in any given game, just like you won’t read a lot about his conditioning mission in the AHL,” Leaves L coach Sheldon Howe said. Satisfied when he leaves the network at the end of the day from a healthy standpoint, and from our point of view, just giving him reps and having him there near the playoffs is a positive thing. “
Arguably we’ve never seen a roster-building challenge like this season’s challenge shortened the outbreak.
Not to be overlooked, the Leafs are champions of the Northern Division, still having an outside chance in the Presidents Cup in the closing days of the regular season, and they are sure to carry a playoff Game 1 team that ‘they did not use. Once before.
They aren’t alone either, as Tampa will likely activate Nikita Kuchirov and Steven Stamkus for the postseason and Montreal is expected to welcome Brendan Gallagher back from LTIR and Vegas currently cannot have a full squad due to injury issues and caps. coverage will not disappear until the end of the Regular Season.
In this context, the Leafs have shown themselves to be more than capable of competing with other smart desks. They lured above-substitute veterans Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza to play for the league’s minimum contracts, added Galchenyuk for next to nothing and found a way to load on time while hitting the needle. by putting on a delicate hat.
Their eventual success or failure hinges on the same young stars who have done so in recent years, but who have isolated Matthews, Marner and Nelander in unprecedented ways. Having all these players on the ice alongside the qualifiers in the lead on Tuesday afternoon only confirms the work done.
“Yeah, that looks good,” Muzen said. “We’re going to need everyone to participate and it’s good to see these guys come back.”
Sixteen wins less than the Stanley Cup, all on board.
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