According to Luke Fox, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to make the Stanley Cup Final. Well, sort of.
Fox joined the Tape to Tape podcast to help co-hosts Rory Boylen and Ryan Dixon preview the Atlantic Division. The Sportsnet hockey writer barely had time to adjust his headset before Dixon put him to a bet for all his chips with the following question: “Do you think it’s more likely the Leafs miss the playoffs or make the final?”
After a brief pause, Fox fired away.
“I don’t think they’re missing the playoffs, so I guess I’m going [with the] final,” he said, “with the caveat that they might make some additions to the blue line, because as is, I think the roster would be hard-pressed to make the final. I wouldn’t rule out [GM] Lou Lamoriello shaking things up and adding to that D corps.”
Fox was a fan of the moves made by Toronto in the off-season and marvelled at newcomer Patrick Marleau’s skating ability at age 38. He also expects a second-year Leaf, goalie Frederik Andersen, to have a better start to the season than he did 12 months ago, when a nagging injury and new, intense surroundings plagued the puck-stopper.
“He looks super lean and way more confident,” said Fox, noting Andersen also had to adjust to a much weaker blue line in Toronto than he previously played behind with the Anaheim Ducks. “Auston Matthews flew down to [Andersen’s] house a bunch times in the summer and the two went out and golfed and hung out. So he’s really bonding with the team now and I think that’s helped him as well.”
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When talk turned to the Ottawa Senators, Fox said he thinks the team has the structure to fight through a spate of early-season injuries — including one to mega-star Erik Karlsson — but does believe there was one serious ball dropped in the off-season.
“For me, the biggest thing is Marc Methot, I thought that was the biggest mistake in the expansion draft,” he said of the Sens losing Karlsson’s longtime partner. “I think they should have protected four defencemen if [GM Pierre Dorion] could swing a deal with [Vegas GM George McPhee] to protect him.”
As for the Atlantic’s third Canadian team, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels joined Boylen and Dixon to talk about what he dubbed an “interesting” off-season for the Montreal Canadiens. Engels thinks the Habs may still use their abundance of cap space to address needs before the season starts, particularly on the left side of the defence corps.
He also believes, should pending UFA John Tavares ever be put on the trading block by the New York Islanders, Montreal must go all in.
“If John Tavares said, ‘I’m willing to go to the Montreal Canadiens’ and [Montreal GM] Marc Bergevin didn’t manage to get that deal done, he should be fired,” said Engels, noting the only untouchables on the Habs in that scenario would be Carey Price, Shea Weber and off-season acquisition Jonathan Drouin.
To wrap the pod, Boylen and Dixon gave their Atlantic predictions. Both see a big bounce-back for the Tampa Bay Lightning and a long, long season for the Detroit Red Wings.
