It has been a busy couple of weeks within the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. From the team’s goaltending situation to prospects taking the next step, here is an update on all that’s taken place that you may have missed.
Campbell Continues to Shine
With another win on Friday night, Jack Campbell has improved his record to 8-0-0 on the season. He now has an impressive 1.35 GAA and a .951 save percentage, which puts him in second place for both categories among goaltenders.
With Frederik Andersen still out with an injury, the net is Campbell’s for the foreseeable future. Campbell will have his next start on April 5th in the second game of a back-to-back series against the Calgary Flames. Michael Hutchinson got the start on April 4th in game of the series in which he backstopped the Leafs to an impressive win over the struggling Flames.
Campbell’s impressive season is helping the Maple Leafs remain in first place in the Scotia North Division as the deadline approaches.
Maple Leafs Looking at Goaltender Trade Options
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently joined Craig Rivet and Andrew Peters on their Buffalo radio show, The Instigators on WGR 550. He mentioned that Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas has called the Buffalo Sabres to ask about goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Ullmark has a 6-5-3 record this season while playing for the Sabres, who own a league worst record. His stats are pretty impressive considering the season that Buffalo is having. He has a 2.49 GAA and an admirable .920 save percentage. Depending on who Toronto sends to Buffalo in a deal, Ullmark’s cap hit of $2.6 million will not be too hard for the Maple Leafs to find space for.
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Nick Robertson Reunited
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Semyon Der-Arguchintsev has recently joined the Toronto Marlies after his KHL team, Torpedo, was eliminated from playoff contention. Both Der-Arguchintsev and Nick Robertson were teammates on the OHL’s Peterborough Petes when they were drafted by the Leafs. Now they’re teammates on the Marlies, and hopefully one day, they’ll be teammates on the Maple Leafs.
In his draft year of 2017-18, Der-Arguchintsev recorded 12 goals and added 39 assists, amassing 51 points. He did so in 68 games with the Petes. Both he and Robertson were teammates on the Petes for three seasons. They each had very productive seasons last year, with Der-Arguchintsev recording 12 goals along with 63 assists, amassing 75 points. He did so in 55 games. Robertson recorded 55 goals along with 31 assists, amassing 86 points. This was done through 46 games played.
So far with the Toronto Marlies, Der-Arguchintsev, from Moskva, Russia, has recorded four assists in three games played. The Marlies only have 16 games left in their 2020-21 regular season, which should be enough for Der-Arguchintsev to continue to showcase what he can do in the AHL.
Maple Leafs Schedule Changes
The NHL recently announced schedule changes to three upcoming Maple Leafs games. The first schedule change will occur on April 21st when the Leafs visit the Winnipeg Jets. For this game, the start time has been moved from 8:00pmET to 7:00pmET. The next schedule change is the May 7th game against the Montreal Canadiens now being moved to May 6th. For the third schedule change, the May 5th game against the Ottawa Senators has now been scheduled for May 10th.
Toronto Signs Alex Steeves
On March 28th, the Maple Leafs announced that they have signed Alex Steeves, an NCAA free agent, to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 21-year-old forward spent the last three seasons with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the NCAA. This season, Steeves recorded 15 goals along with 17 assists, amassing 32 points. He did so in 29 games. The Bedford, New Hampshire native was one of the top NCAA free agents available.
Final Thoughts
The Leafs have a really good thing going with Jack Campbell, who looks poised to continue adding on to the win column. Having Semyon Der-Arguchintsev finding success early on playing within the organization is great for his development. He has shown a lot of promise early on in his tenure with the Marlies. As the NHL trade deadline quickly approaches (April 12th), it will be interesting to see what Kyle Dubas has up his sleeve to bolster the team for the playoffs.