The Toronto Maple Leafs, currently in fire-sale mode and quickly on a collision course with a last-place finish, will not be getting any roster relief any time soon. James van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul will not return this season after already missing time with recent injuries, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun.
According to multiple reports, van Riemsdyk apparently suffered a setback in his rehab to repair a broken foot sustained in early January, while Lupul’s previously undisclosed injury has been labeled as a sports hernia.
Losing two of the team’s best remaining veteran players for the remainder of the season certainly doesn’t help head coach Mike Babcock put a terribly competitive roster on the ice for the remaining 24 games of the season. However, it does put the team in good position to end up with a high draft pick. Should they finish in last place, they would have the best odds of any team to earn the first overall pick in the NHL Draft lottery. That would most likely be American star Auston Matthews, currently playing in the Swiss pro league to prepare for a jump to the NHL.
The draft lottery rules have changed this year, meaning the Leafs could finish with a pick as low as fourth overall, but guaranteeing a spot in that range still should net them a major piece for the team’s rebuild that is well underway.
On top of the injuries and most recently a suspension to forward Leo Komarov, Toronto has been actively trading pieces away. Dion Phaneuf, Shawn Matthias, Nick Spaling and Roman Polak have all been shipped out with more trades expected.
Considering that the Leafs have the best team in the American Hockey League, they probably don't want to deplete that roster too much with copious recalls to the NHL team. They may want to start (or probably already are) thinking about bringing back veteran players in some of these trades they're making. If they could get teams to part with players on bad contracts that are either expiring or will expire after next season, Toronto may be able to attract more of those coveted draft picks they’ve been stockpiling as deal sweeteners.
It was recently reported by Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star that the club was “kicking the tires” on Chicago Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell. That’s a contract Chicago would love to be rid of considering Bickell is wasting away in the minors, while only offering the team minimal cap savings.
Getting players like Bickell, if not Bickell himself, isn’t a bad idea so that Toronto can keep its AHL team strong as it guns for a Calder Cup this season. Meanwhile, there’s less pressure to bring up the high-value prospects like William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen, who have entry-level contracts to protect. They could still spot start them as the season winds down, but it's hardly worth burning a year off of their entry-level deals.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the Leafs use these injuries to their advantage, but it is very clear that this season is strictly about collecting assets. They aren’t going to be able to squeeze a lot of wins out of this group and as unfortunate as it may be to some fans paying to watch the team, most Leafs fans should be embracing the tank. This organization is clearly plotting an entirely new direction by method of scorched earth dismantling of their current roster. Short-term pain for long-term gain.
