Bobby McMann, OEL, and Scott Laughton will all sit out ahead of Friday’s trade deadline as the Maple Leafs visit New Jersey (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on seeing Jack Hughes and Auston Matthews win gold for Team USA:
It is different than Jack, because I am right here dealing with Jack every day, but I have so much respect for Auston, his game, and the person that he is. To see him have that moment and have that success… talk about leaders who find their way through. He was the captain of the team, and I thought he had a solid, tremendous tournament.
You are a little torn as a Canadian guy when you are watching those games, but if the US is going to find its way, I want Jack to be a significant contributor, and he certainly was. With Auston, as the captain, and the quality of the tournament he had, you could say the same thing.
Great for him. He is a great player and a great person. Those guys deserve great moments.
Keefe on the difficulty of coaching a team in a tough spot in the standings:
This is my 20th year coaching, and I’ve been in the playoffs every year. Last year was probably the tightest it’s been, so it is not entirely different, except the gap is more significant.
The break itself was a bit of a reset. You kind of settle in, look at where exactly you’re at, and you have the time to evaluate. I just tried to come back and make our team better — help set ourselves up for success in the short term and in the big picture. I am just trying to focus on each day as it comes.
I’ve liked our game since we came out of the break. It took a bit to get the results. We just want to keep building, but the energy has been good with the team. That is really important at this time of year, especially during a week like this with the deadline looming.
We’re just focused on playing. That is the thing I liked best about our game against Florida.
Auston Matthews on Jack Hughes’ comments calling Matthews one of the best in the world:
It was nice. Both of them (Quinn and Jack) stepping up was obviously nice. I think the world of those two as people and players. They’re special. It was a lot of fun to accomplish something like that with those two and the rest of the team.
Matthews on the uncharted territory of captaining a team firmly in a non-playoff position:
It is just about staying positive and continuing to do the right things on the ice, leading by example. You can only control what you can control. It is the work ethic and compete I play with, and I think it goes for everybody else. We’re just focusing on one game at a time and going from there.
Matthews on how the team ended up in such a bad spot in the standings:
You can look at a lot of different factors. I am not going to speculate on what went wrong. We have a game tonight, and that is where my focus is. It is tough. It is frustrating. But we have a game tonight. We have to get ready and focus on that.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the difficulty of the deadline speculation, especially knowing he has a baby on the way:
I kind of want to leave the personal stuff out of it for my wife’s sake. She has a lot to think about at this time.
I think you forget at times that you have other stuff going on in your life, too. We’re just focused on controlling what we can control and going from there.
OEL on his time as a Leaf:
I love it here. We love it here as a family. We are super happy to be here. We want to stay here.
Craig Berube on the distraction of the trade deadline:
I don’t really sit around and talk to every guy about what they’re thinking, but they are obviously thinking about it. It is natural. It is not any different than the day against the Flyers. The deadline is around the corner, and there is a lot of talk. As I said, you have to block it out and play.
Maple Leafs (27-24-10) vs. Devils (30-29-2): Head-to-Head Stats
via NaturalStatTrick.com & AdvancedHockeyStats.com
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#53 Easton Cowan – #34 Auston Matthews – #88 William Nylander
#23 Matthew Knies – #91 John Tavares – #11 Max Domi
#63 Matias Maccelli – #55 Nic Roy – #81 Dakota Joshua
#89 Nick Robertson – #18 Steven Lorentz – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly – #25 Brandon Carlo
#22 Jake McCabe – #28 Troy Stecher
#2 Simon Benoit – #51 Philippe Myers
Goaltenders
Starter: #41 Anthony Stolarz
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Injured: Chris Tanev (LTIR)
New Jersey Devils Projected Lines
Forwards
#28 Timo Meier – #13 Nico Hischier – #91 Dawson Mercer
#81 Arseny Gritsyuk – #86 Jack Hughes – #16 Connor Brown
#63 Jesper Bratt – #12 Cody Glass – #29 Lenni Hameenaho
#47 Paul Cotter – #72 Nick Bjugstad – #42 Maxim Tsyplakov
Defensemen
#43 Luke Hughes – #17 Simon Nemec
#71 Jonas Siegenthaler – #7 Dougie Hamilton
#5 Brendan Dillon – #8 Johnathan Kovacevic
Goaltenders
Starter: #25 Jacob Markstrom
#34 Jake Allen
Injured/Out: Brett Pesce, Stefan Noesen, Zack MacEwen
