By Josh Heller
Staff Writer
1. Franson, Santorelli Shipped Out of Tanking Toronto
On February 15, the Toronto Maple Leafs started selling their team, sending defenseman Cody Franson and forward Mike Santorelli to the Nashville Predators for a 2015 first-round pick and prospect Brendan Leipsic.
Franson and Santorelli have always been the subjects of trade rumors throughout the season. Many analysts speculated that Franson’s worth was about a first-round pick. Meanwhile, those same analysts had thought that Santorelli was worth a second rounder. However, those who cover the Leafs say that they would much rather have Leipsic than a second-round pick.
Back in 2012, the Nashville Predators took Leipsic in the third round, 89th overall. NHL analysts such as Bob McKenzie called Leipsic a small, energetic guy who can deliver a crunching hit. He can get under the opponents’ skin, but he’s also quite skilled offensively. Leipsic’s best season came in 2012-13, with the Portland Winterhawks, as he scored 120 points in 68 games, helping to push the Winterhawks into the Memorial Cup Playoffs.
To go along with the 2015 first rounder, the Leafs received 36-year-old forward Olli Jokinen. Jokinen was taken third overall all the way back in 1997 by the Los Angeles Kings. Since then, including the Maple Leafs, Jokinen has played for nine different teams, most notably the Florida Panthers and the Calgary Flames.
Reports surfaced that before Jokinen had even played his first game with the Leafs, Jokinen was very angry about being traded, and he was not pleased with going from Stanley Cup contending Nashville to last-place contending Toronto.
2. Skapski Gets First Start in Buffalo
After Henrik Lundqvist went down with his injury from a puck to the throat, the New York Rangers needed to rely heavily on backup goaltender Cam Talbot. In addition to Talbot, the Rangers needed a new backup.
Many analysts had thought that the Rangers would sign either Yann Danis, of the Hartford Wolf Pack, an older, free agent goalie, or try to find a trade for a goalie. Instead, the Rangers decided to call up the 20-year-old from the Wolf Pack, Mackenzie Skapski.
After coming in for Lundqvist, Talbot came and started eight straight games. In this span, Talbot went 5-1-2, with an average save percentage of .893 and a goals against average of 3.13, numbers which were not exactly spectacular. But what else would you expect out of a 27-year-old backup goaltender?
After giving up five goals in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks, Talbot was publicly frustrated with his game, saying in his post-game comments, “Four goals should be enough most nights and that’s on me. I’ve got to find a way to come up with that extra save.”
To go along with Talbot’s sub-par performance, the Rangers had a game the next night in Buffalo, versus the Sabres, one of the worst teams in the league. This seemed like a prime opportunity to give Skapski his first start in the NHL, so head coach Alain Vigneault announced just hours prior to the game that Skapski would be the one to start in net for the Rangers.
Skapski’s first start did not look like it was going to go well, as Matt Moulson was left uncovered right in front of the crease, and scored to put the Sabres ahead 1-0 just 14 seconds into the period. After those first 14 seconds, though, Skapski looked solid. He totaled 23 saves on 24 shots, helping to lead the Rangers to a 3-1 victory.
Minus some jitters at the beginning of the game, Skapski was solid. He has always been known for having very good angles, and squaring up well to the puck. Skapski looked calm, cool, and collected on Friday, including some scrambling saves during flurries of action in the third period. Skapski, a former sixth round pick, has the potential to be a full-time, NHL-caliber goaltender, and Rangers fans would love to have a good problem in New York: too many good backup goalies.
3. Unlike Skapski, Subban Struggles in Debut
The same night that Skapski made his debut for the Rangers, fellow 21-year-old rookie goalie Malcolm Subban made his debut for the Boston Bruins. Unfortunately for Subban, his debut did not go as well as Skapski’s.
On February 20, the Bruins took on the St. Louis Blues. It was announced earlier in the day that 2012 first round pick Malcolm Subban would start. Everyone thought the kid would do well. He had done well for all of his OHL and AHL career, and he was finally getting his shot. And then the game started.
Even though Subban started for the Bruins, he managed to only be on the ice for 31:15, before being pulled in favor of usual starter Tuukka Rask. Subban made only three saves on six shots (Rask only had seven saves on nine shots), and the Bruins fell to the Blues by a score of 5-1. Even though they only had 15 shots on goal, the Blues were able to get one-third of their shots past him into the back of the net.
It is pretty hard to lose if you are scoring on 33 percent of your shots. It was just one game, however, and Subban will have a great career ahead of him. All he needs is some experience.
