Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs
Sheldon Keefe, head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Advertisement

After practice on Monday, Sheldon Keefe discussed the additions of Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell, Travis Dermott departing the organization, the message sent from management to the team with the deadline moves, Petr Mrazek passing through waivers, and the injury status of Ondrej Kase, Rasmus Sandin, and Jake Muzzin.

Practice Lines – March 21

Note: Rasmus Sandin is out with a knee injury.

What excites you about adding a player like Mark Giordano?

Keefe: It is big for us. Obviously, you know what he brings on the ice. He has played a long time and has had a very successful career. He has great leadership qualities. He is excited to be here and committed to doing whatever is required or asked of him to help the team win.

It is a big addition to our group. It boosts our backend and gives us additional depth and options. There are a lot of things to like about that addition.

Of course, Blackwell is an important addition, too. He is a very versatile guy who plays with incredible energy. Last season and this season, he scored at about a 20-goal pace. There is some offensive potential for him, too. He is a guy we really like.

I have liked him a lot since coaching against him in the American league when he was in Rochester. I think he has done a good job of establishing himself as an NHLer. He is a guy who is excited to be here and will bring a lot to our group.

How do you plan on using Giordano?

Keefe: We will see. I think we are likely going to try different things. With Muzzin still being out at this point in time, obviously, that changes the dynamic of our defense. We will bring Gio in and try some different things. I would imagine probably how we start won’t be what we go with all the way through. I think it is important that we do try different things.

Obviously, he is a guy who can contribute to the game in so many ways: at five-on-five, on the power play, on the penalty kill. There will be good opportunities in all situations there.

What is the status of Rasmus Sandin?

Keefe: He hurt his knee the other night a little bit. They are continuing to assess him on that to get a better feel for exactly what the situation is. I guess we will have more when he has an opportunity to have more assessments done on that.

And is there any update on Ondrej Kase?

Keefe: The only real update is that he is doing really well. He is feeling good. In fact, he was trying to push to get back into the game the other night. He is feeling good. It is really positive that way.

The medical team is being cautious at this stage and making sure all is good, especially for Ondrej in his situation and what he has been through as it relates to these types of injuries.

Everything to this point has been positive. We will just continue to assess him and take it from there.

How has Jake Muzzin looked in practice?

Keefe: He looks good to me in practice. They still have him in a red jersey, so he still has some things to go through — some of the tests they do for players coming off of concussion before they get cleared for full contact in games.

He hasn’t gotten to that point yet. I think that is getting close from what I am told, and then they will continue to ramp him up in terms of his workload and get him ready to get back in games.

How about Jack Campbell?

Keefe: Jack skated again today. I didn’t get a report on how that went. I know that he did skate Saturday as his second skate. He felt better than he did the first day. That is positive. I would expect he will continue to progress.

You and Travis Dermott go back a long way. How hard is it to see him depart?

Keefe: Yeah, it is tough. I talked to Derms last night. He has been in this organization a long time — all the way back to the Marlies days. He was a part of our Calder Cup team. He developed to be an NHL player. He is a guy who worked hard to develop his game.

He was in a situation this season where the emergence of Sandin and Liljegren made it tough for Derms. In the opportunities that he was given and in seasons previous, we didn’t see the progression to jump into some of those top-four spots. When you have those young guys coming, it makes it hard.

He was in a situation where everybody felt a fresh start would be good for him. Derms is a good guy and has worked really hard here. He loved being a Leaf. To get him that opportunity was important.

With the emergence of our young defensemen, and then you add in Lyubushkin and now Giordano, he would have been in a tough spot. I think he is going to get a good opportunity in Vancouver. We wish him very well.

The players seem excited about the new additions. What is your sense of what moves like this, and the message sent to the group from Kyle Dubas, means to the group and their energy?

Keefe: The players know that Kyle believes in this team. They also know that he has a job to do to try to make the team as good as possible and make the additions that he deems necessary. For him to execute a trade of this magnitude and bring in a veteran player like Giordano, in particular, sends a message that he is serious and believes in the group. He is doing what he needs to do to be able to keep pace with the teams in our division.

We are in a very competitive division. Each of those teams has gotten better here. We are keeping pace with that, but at the same time recognizing that additional depth on defense was an area of need. We have done that. We have also supplemented our forward depth with a very versatile player in Blackwell.

As a coaching staff, we are definitely excited. In talking to some of the players, they are as well.

What is the message to Petr Mrazek after he was placed on waivers knowing he signed a fairly substantial contract just last offseason?

Keefe: Kyle has dealt with Petr on that. That is not really a coaching type of thing. That is a management decision. Management is a part of those conversations when it comes time to sign such a deal. With a decision such as yesterday, Kyle handled that.

Our hope is that he is just going to continue to work hard and seek to find his game. It hasn’t been good enough. I think Petr recognizes that. We recognize that.

Do you anticipate Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell playing on Wednesday if they are in practice tomorrow?

Keefe: That is the intention. In talking to them yesterday, I believe that will be fine with them. As long as their travel goes smoothly today and they get here in time to practice tomorrow, get all the rust off, and deal with you folks.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR