Scouting the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders
David Pagnotta: 17 teams had scouts listed to attend last night’s Maple Leafs – Islanders game in Toronto include the Ottawa Senators (2 – including GM Steve Staios), Seattle Kraken, Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals, Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Calgary Flames.
The pressure is on the Maple Leafs to upgrade, and pressure on the players and coaches to win some games
TSN: Chris Johnston and Mark Masters on the Toronto Maple Leafs who sit in a wildcard spot coming out of the All-Star break.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Masters: “The races in the Eastern Conference also heating up and the Leafs are in the thick of it. Morgan Rielly feeling good after the team Matthews All-Star win here says the Leafs are poised for a big second half. Do you agree?
Johnston: “Well, they need one, right? I mean, this is different from the last couple seasons. They are right in the middle of a playoff race, I mean they’re in a reasonably good position, a wildcard spot but there’s no opportunity here for trying to struggle for meaningful period of time and just comfortably walk into the playoffs like they’ve had late in the most recent regular season.
So I look at games between now and March 8th when the trade deadline arrives. And there is certainly a little bit of pressure there for Brad Treliving and his staff in terms of finding a way to upgrade the team.
In the meantime, of course, there’s pressure on the players and Sheldon Keefe to win some of these games. They have a much more friendly schedule in February. A lot more games in this building at Scotiabank Arena, starting right away Monday night with Patrick Roy and the Islanders here.
And so you know, I think that this should be a positive time for Leafs. They went into the break feeling pretty good. Obviously, the stars of the team had a good weekend at the All-Star Weekend and they’re right back to work.”