GM happy Maple Leafs on Marchand's mind ahead of likely playoff meeting

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Kyle Dubas could have been upset. Instead, he laughed it off.

As the NHL general managers wrapped up their annual March meetings Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs GM was asked about Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand helping out with contract negotiations with forward Mitchell Marner.
At 9:44 a.m. Tuesday, with the Bruins preparing to play the Carolina Hurricanes, Marchand tweeted he couldn't wait to see Marner's new contract, responding to an NHL Public Relations tweet that Marner was the eighth player in Maple Leafs history to reach 80 points in 66 games for fewer.
RELATED: [GMs approve concepts for rule changes regarding player safety, offense]
Marner, 21, is a pending restricted free agent. Marchand suggested a $12 million average annual value with two question marks.
"It better be," Marchand tweeted.
Marchand added the hashtag #MarnerWatch.
"I think it was a master troll job, to say the least," Dubas said with a smile. "You have to respect that element of it.

"And from my end, the part that I liked about it was that there's over a 90 percent chance we're going to play them in the playoffs. You just take the probabilities of it. So that he woke up the morning of a game day and was thinking about the Toronto Maple Leafs I thought was a positive thing for us.
"It's become a great rivalry."
Might as well embrace it. Don't let Marchand get a rise out of you. Don't shrink from the situation.
The Maple Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967, the longest drought in the NHL. They have not won a round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2004.

The past four seasons, they have risen from the bottom of the NHL standings to near the top. At 41-21-4 for 86 points entering their game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET; SN, NHL.TV), they are fourth in the League and on pace for 106 points, which would be a team record.
Expectations are high in one of the most intense markets in the NHL.
Problem is, the Maple Leafs play in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning (51-12-4), who have 106 points, 17 more than anyone else, and the Bruins (40-17-9), who have 89 points, third in the League.
The Maple Leafs could play the Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round after losing to them in seven games in the first round last season, when they had a team-record 105 points. They're 1-3-0 against the Bruins this season.
Asked if the Bruins present a mental block the Maple Leafs must break through, like the Pittsburgh Penguins once presented for the Washington Capitals, Dubas didn't argue. He brought up assistant general manager Laurence Gilman, who worked for the Vancouver Canucks when they used to battle the Chicago Blackhawks.
"He talks about the same thing with Chicago and Vancouver," Dubas said.
If Maple Leafs defeat the Bruins in the first round, their reward could be the Lightning in the second.
They can't change the playoff format, so this is the best way to approach it:

"I think it's a great opportunity for us to have those other two teams in our division," Dubas said. "You hear people look in the standings, and they say, 'Geez, like, depending on what day it is, three of the top four teams are in the same division. So that means one of them is going to be out in the first round.'
"I think for us, it always keeps us on our toes and keeps us moving ahead, knowing that we're in a division with extremely incredible competitors like Tampa, Boston. You've got [the Montreal Canadiens] now flying ahead and others that are continually trying to get better and improve. So for us, I think it's really a positive for our players and for our staff more so than it is a hindrance in any way."
Dubas said the John Tavares line has been excellent all season while Auston Matthews has played well with a litany of wingers, and down the stretch it's about seeing what forwards like Tyler Ennis, Trevor Moore and Nicolas Petan can bring.
On defense, it's about testing pairs and getting healthy. Toronto acquired Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 28. Defensemen Jake Gardiner (back) and Travis Dermott (shoulder) are week to week with injuries, providing chances to Justin Holl, Martin Marincin and Igor Ozhiganov.
"We're in a division with teams that have had a number of injuries, Boston and Tampa, and they've been able to withstand them," Dubas said. "It's given opportunity to other players, and I think our group has to look at teams like that that have lost very significant players for long, long stretches of the year and have been able to perform very, very well, and that's what really we're looking for from our group right now and the players who are getting that increased opportunity."
See? You can be irritated by the opposition, or you can be inspired.
"For us," Dubas said, "it's just trying to ready ourselves for the playoffs whoever it is that we play."