Breaking: No rest for Maple Leafs as Star Player chases 70th goal in

Instead of resting for Toronto’s final regular-season game, Auston Matthews will try again to rustle his 70th goal.

With three ailing forwards who need recovery time for Game 1 of the playoffs Saturday in Boston, Matthews was back Wednesday night in Tampa Bay after the Florida Panthers denied him the milestone 70th the night before.

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The Leafs could’ve taken the cautious route by sitting out the NHL’s leading scorer, perhaps for an extra defenceman. But injured Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Calle Jarnkrok aren’t ready, so the rest day went to three key blueliners, Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe and Joel Edmundson. Tuesday scratches Mark Giordano, Conor Timmins and TJ Brodie were dressed. Head coach Sheldon Keefe listed all three hurting forwards as “possibilities” for Game 1 as he goes into playoff secrecy mode on injuries.

Matthews had an eight-game goal streak stopped by Florida despite five shots on net among 12 attempts. But Keefe was leaning toward letting him play in any case.

“The reality is for me, the 70-goal thing aside, Auston is playing good and feeling good,” Keefe told reporters in Tampa. “If we had more guys to sit or rest he probably wouldn’t even be at the top of the list. In terms of Auston, there was not really much of a discussion there.”

In case you’ve been on Mars the past few weeks, Matthews is attempting to hit 70 for the first time since Teemu Selanne and Alex Mogilny each had 76 in the much more scorer friendly NHL of the 1992-93 season.

Keefe did make a change in net, activating little used No. 3 goalie Martin Jones so Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll can be fully ready for Saturday, Samsonov the expected starter.

Also down to 12 forwards, Lightning coach John Cooper used NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov as he attempts to get one assist and reach 100. Connor McDavid of the Oilers got that mark earlier.

Matthews is the Leafs nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership qualities on and off the ice. Matthews does a lot of work with the Hospital For Sick Children that he keeps low key … Leafs assistant to the GM Shane Doan was one of the many former Coyotes who flew in for Wednesday’s last home game before the move to Salt Lake City … The Leafs are going directly from Tampa Bay to Boston.

Matthews is the Leafs nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership qualities on and off the ice. Matthews does a lot of work with the Hospital For Sick Children that he keeps low key … Leafs assistant to the GM Shane Doan was one of the many former Coyotes who flew in for Wednesday’s last home game before the move to Salt Lake City … The Leafs are going directly from Tampa Bay to Boston.

This season, Cowan had 24 goals and 62 assists for 96 points, which included a 40-game point streak. This could be the best sleeper pick in 10 years, and when media outlets do a 2023 NHL re-draft, he could move up from 28th to the top 10 or even five. He just needs to do what he is doing at the OHL level and at the NHL level to an extent, and he will be loved even more.

Maple Leafs’ Free-Agent Frenzy
In Treliving’s first free agency with the Maple Leafs, he knocked it out of the park. He kicked off day one by signing Ryan Reaves to a three-year deal worth $4.05 million with an average annual value (AAV) of $1.35 million. He then signed John Klingberg to a one-year deal worth $4.15 million and William Lagesson to a one-year deal worth $775,000.

His first day ended with many questioning why he would sign Reaves for so long and Klingberg at all. But Treliving made it all better. During day two of free agency. The team announced that they had signed the biggest fish on the open market, Tyler Bertuzzi, to a one-year, $5.5 million deal. This had Leafs Nation excited because he was a big-name player who wanted to join the team and play with the stars.

Within minutes of that signing, the team announced the signing of Max Domi, son of fan favourite Tie Domi, to a one-year deal worth $3 million. This had Maple Leafs’ Twitter going wild; within 20 minutes of each signing, the team had become grittier and harder to play against, but also more skilled.

Treliving was just starting to put his fingerprints on the team. The Maple Leafs also announced on July 23, 2023, that they had agreed to a contract with Ilya Samsonov, a restricted free agent (RFA). His deal was a one-year contract with an AAV of $3.55 million, making him and Joseph Woll the goalie tandem for this season.

Simon Benoit to a two-way, one-year deal worth $775,000. Benoit was expected to be an extra physical presence in the lineup. However, he has become a regular alongside Jake McCabe as arguably the Maple Leafs’ best defensive pairing.

Treliving’s Mid-Season Re-Signings
From the time he was hired, Treliving was adamant about getting both Auston Matthews and William Nylander signed long-term. It seemed like his personal goal not to let this wait until the offseason, as what happened with Johnny Gaudreau when he was with the Calgary Flames. There was a lot of speculation that Matthews wasn’t going to re-sign, especially from other fanbases. But everything changed on Aug. 23, 2023, when Matthews tweeted that he was doing everything he could to “get us to the top of the mountain.”

Moments after that, the team and fellow NHL insiders broke the news that he had signed a four-year deal worth $53 million, with an AAV of $13.25 million, making him the highest-paid player in the NHL for the 2024–25 season. Then, on Jan. 8, 2024, the team announced that they had reached an agreement with Nylander. This deal was for eight years with an AVV of $11.5 million, for a total of $92 million.

The last order of tidy business for Treliving came on March 13 when he signed Bobby McMann to a two-year, $2.7 million contract extension with an AVV of $1.35 million. On March 29, management signed fan favourite Benoit to a three-year, $4.05 million contract extension with an AAV of $1.35 million. These two reasonable contracts have a massive upside based on how well both have played for the Maple Leafs this season.

Treliving’s Trade Deadline
The last true test for Treliving was the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. The day was slow, with only one move, and that was to acquire Connor Dewar from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick and forward Dmitry Ovchinnikov. This was a great pick-up because he does the little things right. He is great on the penalty kill (PK) and in a fourth-line role, creating energy for the team’s top players.

Treliving’s other trades were:

These trades didn’t move the needle – they aren’t huge names, but they will help the team in areas that need it. Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson both bring a physical element to the backend, not by fighting but by playing hard and defending the crease. They both do that well; they break up the cycle and aren’t afraid to throw their bodies around to stop their opponent. This is what playoff teams need, and that is what the Maple Leafs got in these two.

Webber was an unsigned draft pick of the Hurricanes, and the Maple Leafs acquired his rights and signed him to a contract. He fits the Edmondson mould but with Nikita Zadorov’s size. He is 6-foot-7, 209 pounds and loves to play in big games. He blocks shots, hits, and uses his size to his advantage, which is another thing the Maple Leafs haven’t had in years. Leafs Nation should get used to it because their new GM loves big-bodied defensemen.

Overall, the Maple Leafs have improved a lot in the past year. They have shown the rest of the NHL that they won’t get pushed around and will defend each other with a pack mentality. This was a major flaw in the locker room before; players did not stand up for one another, and Treliving saw that and changed it.