Newish things:

Barry Trotz to step down as GM of Nashville Predators
Barry Trotz announced Monday that he is stepping down as general manager of the Nashville Predators — although he will remain on the job until a successor is found.
Sportsnet.caElliotte Friedman

There is so much trade chatter content, it's impossible to keep up with it. Okay, I didn't try, but if I had, I would have thrown up my hands, I promise you.

Nothing. Not one single thing has been reported that is worth repeating at this time. And it is funny because a lot of prognostications were that this week would be when the big trades would happen.

🦗🦗🦗

Oh, wait, sorry:

And if you don't care about the Olympics and didn't read that post, the trade freeze begins tomorrow at 3 pm.

And about last night, late, late last night...

First I spent some time feeling sorry for myself when I realized the Leafs haven't done their California road trip yet. That's almost two months away, though, so plenty of time to forget so it comes as a shock.

In the first few seconds of the game, William Nylander, who was not so much a presence in the Vancouver game as a name on the gamesheet, scored a beauty.

And then, to be honest, almost nothing occurred in the first period. Both teams struggle with offence in different ways, but the Leafs really struggled for the first part of the game.

In the second period, they seemed to find their speed while passes connected and Nylander was Nylander:

Well and Naz can be Naz sometimes too:

This one was a mess by the Leafs:

They took a one-goal lead into the third.

Now, about that offensive struggle...

I took one look at that and said: scorer error. That is a really weird pattern for the Leafs, and the location for the Nylander goal is totally wrong, but the Maccelli goal is closer.

It looks like the scorer is off by a few feet towards centre, but the Leafs were struggling, so maybe they were the ones off by a few feet. Not a lot got done by the Matthews line, and Scott Laughton led in xG in all-situations mostly on the strength of this:

Nylander kept it up in the third, coming close to scoring, or to setting up a goal, and he sure seemed to be inspiring the rest of the team. Not necessarily to the point of competence, though. More like madcap adventurism and a reliance on Joe Woll.

And some Phil:

Bobby McMann finished it off with an ENG, and the Leafs won 4-2.

I'll tell you, though, it wasn't Toronto playing like a team full of guys waiting to be traded. They played like a team desperately in need of a defenceman. Or three.

See you later for the preview.

From The Branches