Canadian Eastern Conference teams collectively have officially entered the Big Decision era as far as which way they will choose to go in the coming weeks.
Will Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto be sellers come the NHL trade deadline, or will they choose to be buyers?
As far as definitive choices, Toronto seemingly leads the pack. As an aging, slowish organization prone to injury, the Maple Leafs – for the first time since Phil Kessel donned the blue and white – have left the must-win stage and have plunked themselves squarely in the sellers’ seat.
No question about it; even though it won’t sit well with the fan base.
The cupboard is pretty bare in considering the team’s ‘top’ prospects list. Easton Cowan (already an established member of the NHL roster), goalie Dennis Hildeby and defenceman Ben Danford are about it.
The Leafs tossed away a ton of capital in recent trade deadlines, swapping away first-rounders and youngsters-with-promise like a Blackjack dealer laying down cards.
The payoff was minimal.
“As I look at Toronto now, they’re just not cohesive . . . They’re not pulling in the same direction, it’s loose,” offered up Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Wednesday. “. . . It’s all part of a bigger conversation about where they are right now and what’s gone wrong this year.”
The team is currently eight points out of the last wild card slot and now heads out on a western swing through Seattle, Vancouver and the two Alberta clubs. This following an abysmal home stand that saw the Buds collect one point in five games.
The decision?
What decision?
The club is about to go Value Village.
Conversely there’s Montreal. The Habs find a way every week to keep their heads above water. As tight as the Eastern Conference, and specifically the Atlantic Division is, Montreal wins the important games when it needs to. Case in point, Tuesday night’s overtime hand-wringer over Vegas. When clutch time hit, the Habs hit back.
As deadline day approaches, it’s become readily clear that the Canadiens will be shopping actively – if they need to.
And that’s a good point (or question): Does Montreal really and practically need to do much of anything? Seems to me, the yard work’s already been handled. Adding Noah Dobson and Ivan Demidov and Alexandre Texier and Zachary Bolduc all within the last year has been huge.
Montreal might do well to leave things as they are. They’re deep and talented and rugged. The one question remains in net – but as Ottawa can tell you – finding a solution can be more than a little bit tricky.
And how about the Senators?
Well, we used to pass by this Howard Johnson’s (famous for its 28 flavours) in Plattsburgh, New York on the way to our cottage back in the day and we’d plead – as kids – for our dad to stop to get an ice cream cone.
His answer was always: “We’ll see.”
And that’s the same answer you get when analyzing the Senators and the March 6th deadline.
The team was written off for any making-the-playoffs chatter about one week ago. Unexpected wins over league-leading Colorado and Cup contending Vegas altered the conjecture a smidge.
Yes, Ottawa remains a full eight points back of Montreal and Boston in the wild-card hunt but their chase does not appear to be as futile as Toronto’s. With the Senators a run of four or five wins in a row is possible given their talent level and a returning(?) Linus Ullmark. The club has shown through analytics and the good old eye test that even average netminding means more wins than losses.
As speculated in this space last week, the reveal on Ottawa comes at the Olympic break – just one week away. With four games remaining – New Jersey at home then roadies in Pittsburgh, Carolina and Philly – the Senators need to snatch (at the very least) three ‘clean’ wins. That means no overtime loser points dished to the opposition. This is especially recommended when tackling the Penguins and Flyers. Both are neck-and-neck with Ottawa in the playoff hunt.
If the organization can get the deficit down to four points, give or take, we’d call on GM Steve Staios to get active in being a buyer.
But as dad said, “We’ll see.”
OTTAWA SENATORS WEEK AHEAD:
Saturday, Jan. 31: New Jersey at Ottawa (7 pm)
Monday, Feb. 2: Ottawa at Pittsburgh (7 pm)
Tuesday, Feb. 3: Ottawa at Carolina (7 pm)
Thursday, Feb. 5: Ottawa at Philadelphia (7 pm)
(Olympic break begins)
thegrossgame@yahoo.com
Photo: Courtesy Yahoo Sports
