The Maple Leafs lost and Kraken won tonight and Toronto's top five pick is now within reach
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
With the Maple Leafs falling 6-2 to Florida and Seattle defeating Calgary, Toronto moved one step closer to a bottom-five finish and closer to a top-five pick.
In a must-lost game on Saturday night, the Maple Leafs did just that, falling 6-2 against the Panthers in the battle of the basement. Although William Nylander put up two goals in two minute stretch, it was all Florida; who got two goals from Tomas Nosek (his first two of the season).
It was thankfully, not a close game towards the end and the Maple Leafs accomplished their goal of losing, but still needed to hope that the Seattle Kraken — who was a point behind them in standings — could beat Calgary.
A Kraken victory and a Maple Leafs loss is the best possible scenario for Toronto keeping their draft pick
The hockey gods must have been watching over Toronto on Saturday as Seattle walked away with a 4-1 victory over the Flames.
That means as of Saturday night, the standings shift, with Florida leapfrogging the Maple Leafs with 80 points and Seattle on their tail with 79. Toronto's lowly 78 points is just enough to keep them in the bottom-five; strengthening their odds of a top-five pick.
With games against Dallas and Ottawa on the docket, Toronto is likely not going to end up with any points unless they decide to stick it to the Senators in the season finale. That would keep them at 78 points with two more losses, and while it's ugly looking for sure; it's what they need.
In some stroke of absolute luck, the Rangers could also technically leapfrog the Maple Leafs if they were to win their remaining two games, giving them 79 points and pushing Toronto down to 28th place.
A very tall task, but anything can happen.
The rookie group plays solid enough even if the counting stats say otherwise
It was a rookie affair on Saturday night with Easton Cowan, Jacob Quillan, Luke Haymes, and William Villeneuve all in the lineup. While they didn't exactly blow people away (1 point, minus-6), they weren't supposed to.
Cowan had the lone point but was the worst defensively at minus-4, and surprisingly the best player would be Villeneuve, who was finally making his NHL debut after 224 AHL games.
He played 18:45 and had one block, but was the only rookie on the ice who was even or positive, so all the credit to him.
Toronto is no doubt going to need to see how the last two games of the season play out with their rookies, but with the team needing to see as much of their prospect pool as possible; it's inevitable.
Craig Berube needs to stop playing Calle Jarnkrok, Max Domi and Steven Lorentz so heavily and let the onus fall on the youngsters to prove themselves. They are auditioning for a job; not the veterans with a decade under their belt.
While the numbers may say otherwise, the Toronto Maple Leafs and their rookies put in a solid audition on Saturday night, punctuated by their emphatic loss — possibly the best news they've had in a long time.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
The Maple Leafs' pursuit of local star TJ Hughes ends as the Hamilton native chooses Colorado instead
The Maple Leafs' pursuit of local star TJ Hughes ends as the Hamilton native chooses Colorado instead
Previously on Hockey Patrol
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 11|846 ANSWERS The Maple Leafs lost and Kraken won tonight and Toronto's top five pick is now within reach Were you happy or upset the Maple Leafs lost to the Panthers? | ||
| Happy | 595 | 70.3 % |
| Angry | 52 | 6.1 % |
| Indifferent | 199 | 23.5 % |
| List of polls | ||