Per Frank Seravalli, the NHL Draft Lottery is slated for Tuesday, May 5 — so at least there’s something to look forward to.
At any rate, it’s another weekend and another back-to-back for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they inch closer to the end of this train-wreck of a season.
Thursday marked Fan Day in Toronto, with the Leafs putting their skills on display in front of 8,000 boisterous fans — many of them on March Break — at Scotiabank Arena. Heck, even Max Domi joked it was “probably one of the loudest crowds all year.”
At any rate, that’s where the conversation started on the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take as Zack Phillips filled in for Jay Rosehill. To put it mildly, we didn’t love the timing of Fan Day. This has been a disaster of a season, yet the team is out there playing Simon Says in front of their fans. Without question, there’s a massive disconnect between the team and the fan base right now.
And so, Toronto has Carolina tonight before visiting Ottawa tomorrow night for the final Battle of Ontario of the year. They’re playing out the string, so might as well have some fun. Michael Pezzetta has been recalled, so we’ll see if there’s any fireworks this weekend. He’s not playing against the Canes, though. Joseph Woll goes first, then Anthony Stolarz in the nation’s captial.
Meantime, the Leafs announced on Thursday that Auston Matthews underwent successful MCL surgery. His recovery timeline is expected to span approximately 12 weeks. All that means is that he should be good to go for training camp in September. No surprise with the news here. Instead, we graded his season and what the captain’s future in Toronto entails.
Furthermore, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman revealed some new info in his latest 32 Thoughts submission regarding what teams were sniffing around Matthew Knies prior to the deadline. According to the NHL Insider, Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal, New Jersey, and Utah all showed serious interest in acquiring the power forward prior to the deadline. Unless it’s a massive overpay, neither of us really want to move Knies right now. Of note, the 23-year-old shot down any idea of shutting him down for the rest of the season (knee) after today’s mourning skate. He’s such a gamer. Gotta respect that.
That’s it, that’s all for another week of Leafs Morning Take. David Pagnotta will be in for Jay Rosehill on the Monday edition. Join us for a full recap of this weekend’s festivities. Plus, Carter Hutton will stop by the show once again to weigh in on this mess.