The New York Rangers held an optional skate at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, NY on Thursday. The Leafs are scheduled to hold a media availability at Madison Square Garden at 4:45 pm.
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With Friday’s trade deadline fast approaching, the Leafs decided to hold centre Scott Laughton, winger Bobby McMann and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson out of Wednesday’s game in New Jersey. All three players are in the top 16 on TSN’s latest trade-bait list.
“I found out when I came to get prepared at like four o’clock,” winger Matthew Knies said following the 4-3 shootout loss to the Devils. “I saw that they had empty stalls ... It’s a crappy feeling not being able to suit up next to them and play with them.”
The Leafs entered the season with the expectation of making the playoffs for a 10th straight season, but heading into Thursday’s game in New York against the Rangers, Toronto sits eight points out. Players are now grappling with the reality that the team is trending toward a playoff-free spring.
“It’s weird to be in this position right now,” said William Nylander. “Haven’t really, I think, fully [understood] that might happen. It’s a tight spot to get in. If it doesn’t happen, I mean, it’s a tough position to be in.”
The star winger trailed off.
Ekman-Larsson leads the team’s defence with 35 points and still has two years remaining on his contract beyond this season. McMann and Laughton are both heading towards unrestricted free agency in the summer
“All three of them, would be very tough to see them go,” Nylander said. “That’s something you don’t really want to think about too much.”
“He’s been nothing but good to me,” rookie winger Easton Cowan said of Laughton. “Honestly, I haven’t known him long, but probably wouldn’t be the person I am right now without him. Just a great teammate. Yeah, it’s unfortunate. Obviously, it sucks.”
The players are doing their best to tune out the trade deadline, but it’s impossible to ignore right now.
The Leafs made their first move, and first trade since July, by shipping centre Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Toronto received a conditional first-round selection in the 2027 draft and a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2026 draft.
In the event the 2027 first-round selection is in the top 10, Colorado will send its unprotected 2028 first-round pick to Toronto. Colorado currently holds three fifth-round selections in the 2026 draft and Toronto will get the lowest of those selections.
The Leafs called up Jacob Quillan from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and he is expected to suit up in his sixth career NHL game on Thursday night.
The Leafs have dropped all five games (0-3-2) since the Olympic break.
Management may be in sell mode, but the players are not quite ready to throw in the towel on a season that’s gone sideways.
“Everyone’s frustrated and we want to do better,” said Knies. “We’re going to try to stick with it. We have the mentality that anything can happen right now. We can still jump back in it and that should be our focus. We’re not going to hang our heads low and feel defeated. We’re still in it. Like, we still have a chance. So, keep believing in that.”
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Will Vincent Trocheck play on Thursday night?
“Right now, everybody’s a game-time decision,” said New York coach Mike Sullivan. “There’s uncertainty around this week, but right now everybody’s a game-time decision.”
The Rangers centre is No. 1 on TSN’s trade bait list.
“He’s a fierce competitor,” said Sullivan, who is in his first season behind the Rangers bench. “I knew he was a competitor. What I’ve learned in having the opportunity to work with him every day is more affirmation on how competitive he is and his willingness and his want to win.”
Rangers defenceman Braden Schneider (No. 32) is also on TSN’s trade bait list.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” said defenceman Matthew Robertson after New York’s optional morning skate. “But just focusing on tonight and taking it day-by-day is all you can do.”
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Sullivan hopes to share a quick hello with Auston Matthews after Thursday’s game. The pair just helped Team USA win a gold medal at the Olympics in Milan where Matthews served as captain.
“I thought he did a great job off the ice as far as rallying the team and building camaraderie around activities away from the rink and in the Village and things of that nature,” Sullivan said. “He was a big part of that. But, as you guys [in Toronto] know, he’s not a rah-rah guy. He’s a quiet guy. [The] biggest way that he leads is through his example and how he plays the game and that’s inspiring.”
Craig Berube met with the Leafs leadership group ahead of Wednesday’s game and praised Matthews for leading by example in New Jersey.
“He went out in the first period and showed we were here to play,” the Leafs coach said. “I know we are missing guys and it is not easy to deal with that but, in my opinion, from a work and compete standpoint, he went out and dictated how we were going to play the game.”
Matthews fired a team-high six shots on net and picked up an assist. But the team’s top-line centre was also held without a goal for a ninth straight NHL game.
“He is getting opportunities,” Berube said. “It is tough. It is tough on him and tough on the team. We need him to produce. It is not like he isn’t getting his looks. They just aren’t going in right now. He just has to stick with it. He does a lot of other good things in the game. It is not just about scoring. But he’ll come out of it. I have confidence in him. Sometimes, you just have to get a greasy goal around the net.”
This is the longest goal drought for Matthews in the NHL since a 13-game dry spell during his rookie season. Is he pressing right now?
“I don’t sense it,” Berube insisted. “I don’t see it or hear it from him. But anytime those scorers go a bit of time without scoring, it definitely weighs on him. That is human nature.”
Matthews has scored eight goals in 13 career games against Igor Shesterkin, who will get the start for the Rangers on Thursday.
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With McMann a late scratch on Wednesday, Cowan moved all the way up from the fourth line to the first line beside Matthews and Nylander.
“Good to get opportunity,” the 20-year-old rookie said. “Had a bunch of chances. Would have been nice to capitalize on more, but I felt like we had some pretty good chemistry.”
Cowan produced the primary assist on a goal by Nylander, which came right as a Leafs power play expired.
“He did a lot of good things,” Berube said. “There are things he is still learning, but he did a good job on Willy’s goal. Willy did a good job of getting to the net. He made some plays. I wasn’t disappointed with his performance.”
After logging a season-low eight minutes and 23 seconds of ice time on Monday, Cowan played more than 17 minutes on Wednesday.
Once the deadline dust settles, the focus will turn to Toronto’s younger players and ensuring they continue to develop. What’s the key for Cowan down the stretch?
“For me, it is about being a little stickier and heavier in the battles and just understanding he doesn’t always have to make a play,” Berube said. “He has to manage the game, which I thought he did a pretty good job of [Wednesday]. There were times when he tried to force things, or he sees something and wants to make the play but, for me, it is all about him doing things harder and getting firmer. He has to grow still and get stronger, for sure, but hound, forecheck, and be responsible defensively. He did some good things. There are always things he can do better.”
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Rangers defenceman Vincent Iorio asked reporters for an update on the Nic Dowd situation when he got off the ice on Thursday. Dowd was traded from the Washington Capitals to the Vegas Golden Knights.
“He’s the absolute greatest human being,” said Iorio, who played with Dowd in Washington.
Growing up in Vancouver, Iorio immersed himself in trade deadline coverage as a kid.
“It was always fun,” the 23-year-old beamed. “Deadline day and free agency frenzy in the summer, my dad and I would be glued to the TV all day to see who the Canucks would pick up or who they would trade.”
So, what will it be like for Iorio on Friday?
“This is my first full-time year in the NHL so it will be weird being on the other side of the fence,” he said with a grin.
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Leafs lines in Wednesday’s game:
Cowan - Matthews - Nylander
Knies - Tavares - Domi
Maccelli - Roy - Joshua
Robertson - Lorentz - Jarnkrok
Rielly - Carlo
McCabe - Stecher
Benoit - Myers
Stolarz starts
Woll
