Saturday FTB: Just like Dubas planned

Remember when Kyle Dubas went out and signed or traded for all of the depth? Like.... ALL of it? Let’s go through the list...

• Joe Thornton
• Alexander Barabanov
• Mikko Lehtonen
• Zach Bogosian
• Jimmy Vesey
• Wayne Simmonds
• Aaron Dell (oops...)
• Michael Hutchinson
• Joey Anderson
• Travis Boyd/

And they added these to the likes of Pierre Engvall and Adam Brooks. They’ve all come in handy considering the amount of players that went unsigned, or were traded away, or who are now getting injured.

In fact the Leafs are undefeated in the new Brooks and Engvall era, after they led the Leafs to a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers last night.

LEAFS LINKS

Examining if the Toronto Maple Leafs Play is Inconsistent | by Chace McCallum. TL;DR — it’s not just us feeling like they’re either great or shit.

The AHL season for Canadian teams is still on hold.

The #BellevilleSens (and the Marlies) are still awaiting provincial approval to play and rumour is, that won't come until after Ontario's expected lockdown end date on Feb.10.#BSensOnBQ #BSens #ForTheB #Sens #AHL

— David Foot (@FootyOnTheAir) January 22, 2021

You love to see it.

William Nylander played ~63% of his night vs. the reigning Hart Trophy winner, Leon Draisaitl. In that time, the Leafs got:
75% CF
71.7% xGF
Case closed, losers

— mostly Willy shooting it into the net (@mostlyleafies) January 23, 2021

AROUND THE HOCKEY WORLD

The big news from last night was definitely the latest update in the ongoing Pierre-Luc Dubois saga.

Blue Jackets aggressively pursuing Pierre-Luc Dubois trade | by Elliotte Friedman

According to multiple sources, the Winnipeg Jets’ package includes two players of their own who have requested trades — Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic (Roslovic, who is unsigned, is a Columbus native). Anaheim is believed to have significantly increased its offer. Calgary and Montreal are among the other interested parties, and there are undoubtedly more. (As I write this, it is not believed the Canadiens are willing to include Nick Suzuki, although what’s true now might not be true 10 minutes from now.)

Two interesting and probably related stories for the NHL in the USA. First, the story on this is actually not bad like you’d first think. Worth reading the links in the thread.

NBC has told distributors and some sports leagues that it plans to shut down its NBCSN sports channel by the end of the year. Story coming in SBD

— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) January 22, 2021

And then there’s this... NHL opens season with record viewership in United States, Canada | by Nick Cotsonika at NHL.com

No discipline at all against Tyler Myers for his blindside headshot against Joel Armia. He got a match penalty with less than 3 minutes left in the game for it.

No supplemental discipline for Tyler Myers for bodycheck on Joel Armia. Video explanation: https://t.co/0Lp4EwxiTr

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) January 22, 2021