Columnist image

SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

| Archive

TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs practised at the MasterCard Centre on Monday. 

Nazem Kadri insists he didn’t think much about hockey during the recent bye week. 

"We earned those few days off to just relax and hang out and just put hockey to the side," the Toronto Maple Leafs centre said of the five-day break.

So, the scoring drought isn't bugging him? 

“I’ve been dealing fine with it,” said Kadri, who has just one goal in his last 16 games. “I try to contribute each and every night and it doesn’t have to be by scoring. I know, obviously, that’s an incentive for me and what I like to do, but we have lots of talent in the room. I think we’re able to hold the fort down in case some guys aren’t scoring, other guys can pick it up and that’s part of our depth.”

While his personal statistics aren’t a concern, Kadri admits changes need to be made when it comes to the team’s overall performance. Toronto is 5-7-2 since Dec. 12 with just three regulation victories in that stretch.

“We’d like to string a few wins together and get on a bit of a streak,” Kadri said. “Now’s the time for us to kind of take it to the next level. Structurally, we just have to be a little bit more consistent and not have those lapses where we’re giving up odd-man rushes or having too much time in our D zone, just try and be more consistent and our talent’s going to win us games.”

Toronto will play six games in 10 days before the all-star break, with four on the road. 

“Obviously, we need to get focused,” said head coach Mike Babcock. “Since Christmas we’re .500 (3-3-2) and haven’t been good enough so we have to find a way to get better. We’ve talked about that and tried to address some of our needs and we have to get playing.”

New number, new opportunity for Dermott 

Despite the struggles of late, Babcock didn’t make any significant lineup changes during Monday’s practice. Although promising young defenceman Travis Dermott, a scratch in the final pre-bye game, appears likely to draw in on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. Dermott skated with Roman Polak on Monday while Connor Carrick was with Jake Gardiner. 

Unlike his teammates, Dermott didn’t get a bye week. Instead, the 21-year-old was sent down to the AHL where he played a couple games with the Marlies in Charlotte. He admitted to feeling a bit envious about the warm-weather tales being told in the dressing room. 

“It sounded pretty nice,” Dermott noted with a chuckle. “But rainy Charlotte, North Carolina, wasn’t too bad for me either.”

Dermott said the fact he won’t be dealing with any rust will “hopefully” give him a bit of an edge.

“I really didn’t want to overthink those (AHL) games. Just went out there and worked on the things they wanted me to work on and made sure I was in full flight when I came back up here.”

Dermott, who wore No. 3 (previously worn by Dion Phaneuf) in his first two career NHL games, was sporting No. 23 at Monday’s practice. He said he wasn’t sure why the initial assignment was made or why it has now been changed. 

“I don’t think I would come in telling anyone what number I want any time soon,” the rookie said with a laugh. “It was on my helmet so I’m going with it.” 

Frederik (The Goat) Gauthier was also recalled on Monday after spending Toronto's bye week with the Marlies. 

Babcock wary of overloading Rielly 

Morgan Rielly is averaging 22:04 of ice time per game this season, but has been above that total in each of the last seven outings as Babcock continues to tinker with his blueline in the wake of the Nikita Zaitsev (foot) injury. 

Rielly played more than 26 minutes in the last game before the bye against Ottawa and logged over 25 minutes in the previous game against Columbus. In both those games, Rielly made a glaring mistake late in the third period – an ill-advised stretch pass against the Blue Jackets and a poor pinch against the Senators – which led to goals against. 

“We need Mo to not only be good offensively, but be a lock-down guy for us, play against the best people and be a star for us,” said Babcock. “We need him to make all the right plays at the right times. We got to be careful about overplaying him here of late just because any time you take Zaitsev out of the lineup, there’s a lot of minutes there and when guys play too much sometimes the decisions aren’t as good as they should be.”

Babcock said there was no specific timeline for Zaitsev’s return. The Russian has been sidelined since blocking a shot against the Red Wings in Detroit on Dec. 15. Zaitsev is averaging 22:50 of ice time per game this season, which led the Leafs at the time of his injury. 

Lines at Monday’s practice

Forwards
Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Komarov 
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner 
Martin-Gauthier-Brown
Leivo, Moore 

Defencemen
Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Carrick
Dermott-Polak
Borgman

Goalies
Andersen 
McElhinney