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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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Is newly-acquired defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin a potential fit for Toronto's top four? 

"What I see is just him getting into that mix and competing with the others and may the best defenceman win that spot," general manager Kyle Dubas said. 

Lyubushkin has averaged 18 minutes of ice time in Arizona this season while spending most of his five-on-five shifts alongside Jakob Chychrun.

"Let's get to know him better before making any sort of proclamations," said coach Sheldon Keefe. "The fact he does have experience playing with top defencemen is a positive, obviously."

The Leafs acquired Lyubushkin and forward Ryan Dzingel from the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night in exchange for Nick Ritchie and a conditional second round pick. 

Lyubushkin is dealing with some immigration issues and is expected to join the Leafs on Tuesday when they play in Columbus. 

"We don't really have a lot of different guys with his utility," said Dubas. "A big, strong, right-shot defenceman, strong defensively, able to kill penalties and play with a little more physicality than we may have. He's kind of gone under the radar in Arizona and we thought, compared to the market on other types of guys, that it was a good bet for us."

Lyubushkin has racked up 94 hits this season to lead all Arizona defencemen. Jake Muzzin leads the Leafs with 82 hits.  

"I skated a little bit with him in the summer when they first signed him," said Arizona native Auston Matthews. "He's big and strong and he's pretty good defensively. Hopefully he meshes pretty well here and we can get him in a game soon."

Lyubushkin's nickname in Arizona was "The Russian Bear." Why?

"He's just a big boy [6-foot-2, 208 pounds] and plays rough out there," said Leafs winger Michael Bunting, who spent last season in Arizona. "He's not afraid to be physical. He works hard every single night. He's willing to block shots and put his body on the line."

Dubas hopes that making this deal a month before the March 21 trade deadline will help ease Lyubushkin's transition.

"His family is going to be in Arizona," Dubas pointed out. "It will be a bigger adjustment. He goes from playing in Phoenix to playing in Toronto [with more] attention and focus. So, the longer that we can have for him to adjust the better. It was good to get that one across the line yesterday."

Lyubushkin, 27, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. 

"He was playing more this year and playing against better players and doing so fairly well," Dubas said. "He probably doesn't fit their timeline as a UFA in Arizona."

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Saturday's trade brings to an end Ritchie's ill-fated tenure in Toronto. The big left winger from Orangeville, Ont. signed a two-year, $5-million contract in the summer and started the season on Toronto's top line with Matthews and Mitch Marner. 

"He had a lot of chances early in the year," Dubas said. "They didn't go in. The impact of that on confidence and chemistry is massive. Bunting steps up, [Alex] Kerfoot finds good chemistry with John [Tavares] and it just doesn't really play out well for Nick, right? That's the way she goes. Sometimes she goes. Sometimes she doesn't."

Ritchie scored a career high 15 goals in 56 games with Boston last season, but mustered just two tallies in 33 games with the Leafs. He was recently demoted to the American Hockey League where he played a couple games with the Toronto Marlies. 

"There were a number of other teams that were interested, but they would've involved retention and other items we weren't interested in," Dubas said. "Arizona had the cap space. They also had a couple of players we were interested in."

The Leafs placed Dzingel on waivers on Sunday. 

"He is an NHL player," said Dubas. "Selfishly, we hope he gets through and can provide us with depth, but if not that will just be another contract slot and some cash for us."

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Is Dubas still looking to add on defence? 

"I don't think we'll ever say, 'Never,' at this point. Every day is a new day. If we have the chance to improve the team, we will be looking to do so."

Toronto's top pair – Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie – has been solid this season. Youngsters Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren have shown promise on the third pair with Travis Dermott rotating in. But the second unit – Muzzin and Justin Holl – has been inconsistent. 

Muzzin, who will turn 33 on Monday, has been a minus player in four of five games since returning from a concussion.

"When we're not defending well as a team, he takes on a lot of that himself and at times he's doing a little bit too much and is being caught," Keefe said. "We need our guys to play connected as a team and that's going to help a guy like Muzz just do his job and when he's focused on just that, he does it well."

The Leafs are averaging 3.38 goals against in 16 games since Jan. 8. Toronto ranks 24th overall in that stretch.

Keefe made a point of speaking to Muzzin on the ice after practice wrapped up on Sunday. 

"The way that things have gone defensively, especially of late, he's taking on a lot of that himself and that's not good for anybody," said Keefe, who once described Muzzin as the conscience of the team.  

Keefe has experimented with different looks this week with Muzzin seeing time alongside Sandin, Liljegren as well as Holl. 

How can Keefe help Muzzin not take on as much? 

"Improve the team around him," the coach stated succinctly. 

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Matthews spoke to the media for the first time since colliding with the crossbar near the end of Thursday's game. 

"I've had better days," the 24-year-old said through swollen lips. "It's been a battle trying to eat and all that stuff. I mean, it is what it is. Just try and push through it and hopefully continue to feel better and better every day." 

Matthews spent a couple of hours at the dentist on Friday. He lost one tooth and required stitches to repair the damage. 

Matthews, understandably, was in no mood to dissect the play.  

"I saw the crossbar and decided it would be a great idea if I just put my face right through it and see what happened," he said. 

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During the first period of Saturday's game, the Leafs were assessed a too-many-men penalty after winger William Nylander jumped on the ice and played the puck before Ilya Mikheyev reached the bench. 

"Micky was about to step into the bench," Nylander said. "That happens a lot. Like, to call that one is kind of crazy. It's not like he was out in the neutral zone. But, it is what it is."

The Leafs are tied for second in the NHL with eight bench minors. Keefe believes part of that is an anomaly due to the bang-bang nature of too-many-men calls. However, the coach wasn't making any excuses for Saturday's penalty. 

"This one is not a good one," Keefe said. "We had more than enough time to process what was going on on the ice and let the puck go by. We failed to do so."

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Top prospect Nick Robertson appears to finally be on track after an injury-plagued run. 

"He has been outstanding," Dubas gushed. "He is only 20 years old and sometimes that gets forgotten because of the strange way his development has gone. He was drafted in the second round [in 2019], had a great season with Peterborough, and then came to our team and played in the bubble [in the playoffs]. 

"Last season, as a 19-year-old, in [our] third game of the year in Ottawa, he gets injured. And then he gets injured late in the Marlies season and he has a bad injury [non-displaced fracture of his right fibula] in the second game of this season against Manitoba with the Marlies."

Robertson has three goals and two assists since returning to the Marlies lineup. 

"It is the best I have seen him play at this level," Dubas said, "not only on the puck but off of it, and on the penalty kill. He is much more dangerous with the puck. His skating looks a lot better, which is a credit to him and the work he put in with the staff during his injury to continue to become more explosive, improve his acceleration, get open, and use his shot. As everyone has seen in the last couple of days, he is shooting it in the net from distance."

And while Dubas heaped praise on the American, he also preached patience. 

"We are very, very happy with him," Dubas said. "The key is for him to continue to build momentum ... Last year, with the taxi squad, it was up and down. It tends to stunt momentum. We want to see him continue to build momentum and continue to take on a huge role with the penalty kill and defensively while producing offensively. It will just be a matter of time until he forces our hand."

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Sandin missed practice, because the Leafs needed to send someone down to the AHL to create cap space following Saturday's trade. Sandin spent some time working with the team's development staff in the morning. With Dzingel on waivers, Sandin will be available to play on Monday night in Montreal.

Petr Mrazek will get the start against the Canadiens.

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Lines at Sunday's practice:

F

Bunting - Matthews - Marner 
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander 
Mikheyev - Kampf - Kase
Engvall - Spezza - Simmonds 

D

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Liljegren
Dermott - Holl
Bornstein*-Grima* 

G

Mrazek
Campbell 

*University of Toronto players invited to take part 

Power play units at Sunday's practice:

PP1

QB: Rielly 
Flanks: Matthews, Marner
Middle/Net front: Tavares & Nylander rotate

PP2

QB: Muzzin 
Flanks: Mikheyev, Spezza
Middle: Kase
Net front: Bunting