Elliotte Friedman touches on the Leafs in his latest edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast
The Leafs were able to end their 5-game road trip on a winning note, much to the delight of Sheldon Keefe and Leafs Nation. Keefe was very complimentary of his team following Tuesday's win in New Jersey and about the road trip as a whole, posting a 3-2-0 record. Any time you win more than you lose, it's a good trip. Perhaps the most surprising detail about the trip was that the Leafs were able to steal a 4-3 win without the likes of John Tavares and Ryan O'Reilly in the lineup.
Both Tavares and O'Reilly were banged up in the game in Vancouver on Saturday - JT taking a couple of heavy hits from Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers and O'Reilly being hit in the hand by a rocket of a shot from Auston Matthews in front of the Canucks' net. Tavares is expected back on Saturday, but O'Reilly will miss a month after undergoing surgery to repair a broken finger.
During his most recent edition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman stated that the news on O'Reilly's recovery timeline is a best-case scenario for the Leafs, as it puts him in line for a return right near the start of the playoffs. He also touched on a couple of other Leafs storylines, relating to the current D corps.
"Ryan O'Reilly's injury timeline is as good as Toronto could have hoped � four weeks. That's right at the start of the playoffs. Word is O'Reilly's already had a huge impact on the dressing room, just in terms of how the players interact and socialize with one another. The Maple Leafs were honest with Conor Timmins, letting him know the added defenders will hurt his ice time � but he's very much in their plans. The more delicate balance will be with Timothy Liljegren, who returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing a pair of games."
-Friedman on the Leafs during his most recent 32 Thoughts
-Friedman on the Leafs during his most recent 32 Thoughts
Having no less than 10 NHL defensemen is a fantastic problem to have if you're Sheldon Keefe and the Leafs' coaching staff. The problem here is how to finesse everything so nobody ends up frustrated and wanting out of a situation where they don't get any playing time. Thus far, Keefe has done well to rotate guys in and out. Liljegren has been the guy sitting early on, but Keefe has already stated that he plans to play Liljegren a lot more down the stretch, so we'll see what happens there.
As far as Timmins goes, he's signed for the next two seasons. As Kyle Dubas had stated after Timmins was extended, the Leafs have long-term plans for him. If he doesn't play a lot in the final 18 games or in the playoffs, I'm sure he'll have plenty of ice time next season, when his new 2-year deal worth $1.1M per season kicks in.
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