Another Good News: Done deal for Maple Leafs as their defense blueline is solidified with a Veteran and their winning streak as begun.
The first trade of the day on Thursday saw the Toronto Maple Leafs add some veteran depth on the blueline.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Joel Edmundson from the Washington Capitals. In return, the Capitals receive the New York Islanders’ 2024 third-round pick, and the Chicago Blackhawks’ fifth-round pick in 2025.
The Leafs are also getting a great deal for the 30-year-old. The Capitals are retaining half of Edmundson’s remaining cap hit, which was already split when Washington acquired him from the Montreal Canadiens last summer. Toronto only has to pay $875,000 for the final year of Edmundson’s four-year contract, which he signed with the Habs in 2020.
It was an essential move for Toronto heading into the playoffs. While they have some experienced D-men, they lack someone who knows what it takes to win it all, as Edmundson was on the St. Louis Blues team that won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2019, and later helped the Canadiens reach the Cup final in 2021.
On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk break down what Edmundson can offer to the Leafs team looking to get over the hump.
Frank Seravalli: “I think it’s important support for them. Joel Edmundson has Stanley Cup pedigree. He was a big part of that run for the St. Louis Blues. While his game has slowed down a little bit, this isn’t anything that’s gonna cost you.
THE GOOD, BAD & UGLY IN MAPLE LEAFS 2-1 OT WIN OVER BUFFALO
The Toronto Maple Leafs squeaked a 2-1 home win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night. What were the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game?
The Ugly
This was not a pretty game. It felt as if the three periods of regulation time were played in a phone booth. Neither team allowed the other team any room to move. While both goalies made some great saves to keep the score as low as it was, the fact that regulation ended 1-1 pretty much sums up the game’s excitement level.
For some reason, all the information usually provided by Naturalstattrick.com was not available for this game. The website Moneypuck.com listed the Expected Goals at the end of the third period as just 2.21 for Buffalo and 2.20 for Toronto.
All-in-all except for some sporadic moments, the game was a snoozer until it got to the three-on-three overtime.
The Bad
About four minutes after Toronto took a 1-0 lead early in the second period, the Maple Leafs were a victim of a bad bounce, some bad refereeing, and Ilya Samsonov’s only bad play of the night.  After the Maple Leafs dumped the puck into the Buffalo zone, Sabres’ forward Zemgus Girgensons batted the puck out of the zone. If it were a baseball, it would have been a pop-up fly ball. The puck landed just outside the Toronto blue line.
David Kampf would have been the first player to the puck but he was interfered with by Zach Benson and prevented from getting to the puck. There was no call on the play. That allowed Victor Olofsson to pick up the puck, skate a few strides into the Toronto zone right, and fire a wrist shot past Samsonov. It was a good shot into the top corner over Samsonov’s glove. However, I am guessing it is one that Samsonov would like back. It was unscreened and seemed to catch Samsonov by surprise. That was the only flaw in Samsonov’s game and he more than made up for it.
The Maple Leafs Are in Solid Position in the Atlantic Division
The one thing Toronto did do with the win against the Sabres was solidify their hold on third place in the Atlantic Division. They are well-positioned for a playoff spot. They are currently eight points ahead of both Tampa Bay and Detroit and twelve points up on the ninth-place New York Islanders.
Note #1:Â Although the Maple Leafs are carrying three goalies with as light a load as Samsonov had in the Buffalo game and as well as he is playing I wonder if we might see him go back-to-back and play in Boston.
Note #2: Once again there is a flu bug going through the locker room of the Maple Leafs. David Kampf had missed practice on Tuesday but was well enough to play against Buffalo. But, Jake McCabe reportedly never even made it to the rink on Wednesday. William Lagesson stepped in for McCabe.
Noah Gregor was in the lineup in place of Pontus Holmberg. I did not hear if that was due to illness or injury, or if Holmberg was a healthy scratch. Conor Timmins has been cleared to play after his bout of mononucleosis. I wonder if we could see him in the lineup in Boston.
