A wild 48 hours of activity for the Toronto Maple Leafs ended with a game against the Canadiens and a 4-2 loss, the Leafs first loss after winning six straight games. Here’s our recap of last night’s game.

Recap: Leafs fall to Habs in a poorly played game

Jack Campbell’s eleven game winning streak also came to an end with the loss for which he took personal responsibility.

I don’t think anyone is pointing fingers, Jack.

This all capped off a busy 48 hours of trading activity that saw Kyle Dubas look at the risks he faces in a long playoff run and make some moves to mitigate them while not lowering the bar of being in the Stanley Cup Final. It’s something you can do when your expected return is so high; lowering it slightly brings a much larger reduction in the risk and variance of outcomes. That’s a good thing! It’s also a very Bay Street move based on portfolio management theory, and I suppose Dubas is the portfolio manager of the team with the players his assets. We’ll see if it works, and if Dubas gets to collect his performance fees at the end of the playoffs by passing the high water mark of a first round exit.

Here;s Dubas himself explaining his philosophy behind the trades.

And here’s our coverage recapping all of the activity of the Trade Deadline.

Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 trade deadline recap - Elseldo
Who left, who joined, and what it all cost.

Maple Leafs spend a lot of picks but no prospects at the deadline - Katya
Draft day is going to be a little dull this summer.

Trade Deadline Roundtable: How did the Leafs do? - The Ktten Ranch Staff
Let’s talk about our feelings!

Other Teams’ Trades
Here’s a selection of moves made by other teams yesterday.

Hurricanes trade Haydn Fleury to Ducks for Jani Hakanpaa, draft pick - Canes Country
The Hurricanes swung a last-minute deadline deal and defenseman swap with the Ducks

Oilers Acquire Dmitry Kulikov From Devils - The Copper & Blue
Conditional fourth round pick sent to Devils for low event defenceman

Capitals Acquire Anthony Mantha from Red Wings for Jakub Vrana, Richard Panik, and Picks - Japers' Rink
The Capitals send Vrana, Panik, first-round pick, and second-round pick to Detroit in exchange for Mantha.

Panthers acquire Sam Bennett from Flames - Litter Box Cats
Rights to prospect Emil Heineman and 2nd rounder in 2022 head north

Canucks shake-up defence by acquiring Madison Bowey and trading Jordie Benn - Nucks Misconduct
Well...at least the Canucks got younger?

Other News

All the big news was about the trades yesterday, but there were some games too, and Patrik Laine wanted everyone to know he’s still got it.

Was there a goal scored here? There was a pile up at the net, and a video review by the officials in Toronto determined it was a goal, but then that was put to a coaches challenge, and then no one was really sure if it was a good goal.

Networks blame Nielsen for COVID-era ratings slide - Sports Media Watch
It may be an excuse or wishful thinking, but network execs are reportedly blaming Nielsen for at least part of TV's ratings slide, saying their panels are no longer representative of the audience.

Hockeyville win gives Elsipogtog reason to celebrate after week of grief - CBC
Elsipogtog First Nation is celebrating a big win for the community on Sunday after a tragic week.

And the Leafs are right back at it again tonight, playing the Flames as we are in the Schedule From Hell now with 8 games over 13 days. We’ll have a preview of tonight’s game up later this morning.

From The Branches