The NHL off-season has come to a grinding halt, which reminds me of one of my favorite songs by the Cure, but I digress. The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t seem to have made a move in ages.
In fact, you’d have to go back what feels like 27 weeks to the time the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Calle Jarnkrok (itself not exactly earth shaking) to remember what new Leafs news feels like.
But that is the life of the hockey fanatic.
Maybe the WJC tournament is giving you your fix, but with limited Leafs action (they have just three players involved) it’s just not doing it for me.
Still, even without Leafs action, and even without any major NHL news, stuff does happen, and so let’s run it down:
Toronto Maple Leafs and NHL News
A google search for current Leafs news only shows a dumb-as-rocks Nylander trade article and a possibly even dumber rumor (which I already dispelled) which (who could have guessed?) includes trading Nylander.
The dumbest, laziest idea in the hockey world, one with a zero chance of happening. Give it up kids, it ain’t happening. You just have to either cheer for a new team or come to terms with how your favorite team is run (which is, for one of the only times in 55 years, smartly and properly).
As for other NHL news?
I was basically just kidding. It’s August, there isn’t anyone.
Max Pacioretty will be out for six months after undergoing surgery for a torn Achilles. This should shock no one, since there was always a reason one of the best 5v5 forwards in the NHL (while healthy) was given away for free.
Other than that, the big news is that Robhin Lehner will miss the whole year with hip surgery. A bummer for the Golden Knights who are now down two elite players this summer. This should help them get cap compliant, but yikes!
If you are jacked that Mason Appleton re-signed in Winnipeg or that Caleb Jones signed in Chicago, then maybe there is more NHL news that I thought. But I doubt anyone who isn’t friends with those guys personally cares too much.
One thing probably worth mentioning, even though it happened while I was off and isn’t really news anymore, is the Bruins re-signing David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron to one-year dirt-cheap contracts.
The two players give the Bruins a solid 1-2 punch down the middle for $7.5 in cap space (including bonuses) which is incredible value, since based on what he did last year alone, Bergeron is likely worth $15 million, possibly more.
That should make the Atlantic even more interesting, but we’ll have to wait for some more Toronto Maple Leafs news to know for sure.