Zizing 'Em Up: Maple Leafs look to take next step after Deadline moves

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Sunday during the season, he will use his extensive network of hockey contacts to write his weekly notes column, "Zizing 'Em Up."

TORONTO -- Kyle Dubas helped the Toronto Maple Leafs add the type players that gives them the most complete Stanley Cup Playoff-ready roster they've had in years.
Now it's up to the players. No more excuses.
The Maple Leafs general manager played a key role in making the team much tougher to play against by orchestrating deals that landed Ryan O'Reilly -- who in 2019 won both the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP -- and fellow forward Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 17, defenseman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, and defenseman Luke Schenn from the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Still, there are lingering questions.
How will changing 33 percent of the skaters (six of 18) affect chemistry?
Is the goaltending good enough?
And what about the potential of having to play the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team that eliminated the Maple Leafs in seven games in the Stanley Cup First Round last season, again in the first round?
Those are issues the players themselves must resolve. Their general manager has shown the imagination and foresight to acquire these players without giving up key cogs off the roster, defenseman Rasmus Sandin and forward Pierre Engvall notwithstanding. Now it's their turn.
"I think the goal of the team is to win," Dubas said Friday, attempting to explain the Maple Leafs' mindset moving forward.
"The easiest way I can put it is, hard things are hard. What we're about to try to do is going to be extremely difficult, and we have to ready ourselves each day leading into that to clinch our spot and then be ready for what's ahead."
As for the number of newcomers trying to mesh with the team, Dubas isn't concerned.
"I do have a lot of faith in what I've seen from the players -- when they're outside of the lens of the public and we're together -- that they could handle bringing some new guys in," he said.
Their tale of postseason woe is well documented. The Maple Leafs (38-17-8) -- who are second in the Atlantic Division, five points ahead of the third-place Lightning -- have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967 nor a playoff series since 2004, each the longest drought in the NHL.
Dubas is in the final season of his contract and has taken a lot of heat for the team's recent postseason failures, which he's owned. But it says here, playoff success or not, he's earned the right to come back after his insightful and shrewd maneuvering the past few weeks.
Of course, none of this guarantees playoff success. What it does do, however, is give the team a better shot.
Will goalie Ilya Samsonov (22-8-2, 2.39 goals-against average, .915 save percentage) be able to carry his strong plays into the postseason? Can goalie Matt Murray find a stretch of good health after an injury-plagued season? Is rookie goalie Joseph Woll playoff ready? Each remains to be seen.
What is more certain is that the highly talented core of forwards Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander and defenseman Morgan Rielly must finally step up when it matters.
During the first round last season there were four Game 7s. Artemi Panarin scored the series winner in overtime for the New York Rangers against the Pittsburgh Penguins; Johnny Gaudreau did the same for the Calgary Flames against the Dallas Stars; and Connor McDavid was brilliant in the Edmonton Oilers' win against the Los Angeles Kings.
The other Game 7? Lightning third-liner Nicholas Paul outscored the Maple Leafs 2-1 to help Tampa Bay advance.
Panarin, Gaudreau and McDavid are stars. With all due respect to Paul, he isn't. And yet, when it mattered most, he outscored Toronto's elite players.
After all of Dubas' fine work, it's time the Maple Leafs stars change that narrative.

HONOR ROLL: TRADE DEADLINE EDITION

Those who deserve a tip of the cap for their work ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline
Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion: Landing Jakob Chychrun in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes gives Ottawa a top-pair defenseman who's under contract for two more seasons and can take some of the pressure off Thomas Chabot. But it cuts deeper than that. Dorion said he'd promised veteran forward Claude Giroux that they'd get a quality defenseman. He heard forward Derick Brassard say publicly the players earned the right for the Senators to bring in some help, which they did. But the most impressive part was Dorion's logic that he'd seen a dressing room full of players that hadn't had this much fun in years and wanted the vibe to continue. That tells you the chemistry going on in Ottawa is real. And it starts at the top.
Boston Bruins president Cam Neely and GM Don Sweeney: Not so long ago, there wasn't such a good feeling about the Bruins. There was fan backlash when popular coach Bruce Cassidy was fired last June. In November, Neely apologized for the signing of prospect Mitchell Miller, who was convicted at 14 years old of a bullying incident. (The signing was quickly rescinded.) Somehow the Bruins and the two men in charge of the product have overcome those distractions and Boston has become the best team in the NHL. Adding key pieces like defenseman Dmitry Orlov, whose being called "Bobby Orlov" in Boston after accruing nine points (three goals, six assists) in his first five games since being acquired from the Washington Capitals in a trade, is another example how the Bruins have helped change their narrative this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois: Here's a guy who honestly doesn't care what the critics think. When the Lightning acquired gritty forward Tanner Jeannot from the Nashville Predators for defenseman Cal Foote, a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and a third-, fourth- and fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, there was plenty of public and media backlash that the team had given up too much. Not in the eyes of the organization. BriseBois correctly pointed out that the players who will be picked with those selections can't help the core of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy win now. He's right. Besides, the Lightning took similar heat in 2020 when they gave up a first-round pick for Barclay Goodrow and another for Blake Coleman. Since then, Tampa Bay has won the Stanley Cup two times and made three consecutive appearances in the Final. Case closed.

#SNOWYSTRONG

Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving had to fight back the tears Friday. And it had nothing to do with a trade that was or was not made.
No, this was about Chris Snow. The Flames assistant GM. Treliving's friend. Our friend. One of the bravest people you'll ever meet.
Consider this: Three years ago, after Snow was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), he was given a year to live. Chris is a fighter and wouldn't accept that prognosis. In fact, he received a standing ovation at the 2022 NHL Awards when he and his family presented the Norris Trophy and raised awareness for the progressive neuromuscular disease.
On Thursday, Snow was having difficulty breathing and had to go to the emergency room after the first period of the Flames game against the Maple Leafs game at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. According to his wife, Kelsie, who's been an incredible caregiver throughout this process, Chris had a message in the ER for Treliving.
"Tell 'Tree' I'm sorry."
That's Chris. With the Flames brass working feverishly as the clock clicked down to the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, he was concerned he'd let them down.

No wonder Treliving was emotional during his post-deadline press conference Friday.
"He had a tough night last night … He's texting me today. He's battling," the Calgary GM said, the emotions of the moment bubbling to the surface.
Treliving paused, looking for the right words. After several seconds, he found them.
"So when you think it's a hard day, he's the one having a hard day," Treliving said of Snow. "He was there battling all the way and texting from the emergency room.
"That tells you a little bit about Chris Snow."
It really does.
On Friday night, Kelsie tweeted via her account @kelsiewrites that "We've been much, much worse. Home soon. Onward"
Kelsie and Chris continue to be inspirations in this fight. For example, as part of the family's #SnowyStrong campaign to raise $500,000 for ALS research, thousands of minor hockey players' helmets in Calgary have been adorned with a blue cornflower sticker in honor of Chris' battle and the need to find a cure. As of Feb. 26, more than 2,500 stickers had been sold, raising $4,800, according to the Calgary Sun.
I've known Chris for two decades dating back to his days as a sports reporter with the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Boston Globe. The first time I saw my friend since his diagnosis was in the press box for a Maple Leafs-Flames game at Scotiabank Arena on Dec. 11, 2021. Treliving, Chris and I had a great conversation about everything but hockey.
The next day, to my shock, I was told Chris had to be rushed to ER, a couple of hours after we'd chatted. He got through it, thanks in part to the doctors and the omnipresent support of Kelsie and Treliving.
All the best, Chris. We're all rooting for you. We know Brad Treliving and the Flames certainly are.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

"We've got a world-class goaltender (Connor Hellebuyck) that certainly can, obviously, match up against any of the goaltenders in this league. I'd match our top two centermen (Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois) with anyone in this league. I'd match our wingers, obviously, you mention Kyle Connor, [Nikolaj] Ehlers, Nino Neiderreiter, you've got Blake Wheeler, you've got wingers that can score. I think you've got a line, lines that can check, and I think you look at the depth with respect to the people that are available on the fourth line that can kill penalties and provide roles. So, you look at our defense, it's deep, it's big. You know, we're having a player (Josh Morrissey) that is having a Norris-type of year. So, if you look at all the different components as to why you think you should be able to compete for a Stanley Cup, I think we've got it." -- Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff
-- Eight hours after Cheveldayoff made these comments Friday, his team was thumped 6-3 by the Edmonton Oilers, making the Jets 1-6-1 in an eight-game stretch heading into a rematch against Oilers in Winnipeg on Saturday, which they won 7-5. Let's see if they can live up to their general manager's lofty impression in their battle for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. They certainly haven't of late.

THE SUNDAY LIST

With so many new faces in new places after the trade deadline, there will be no shortage of players looking to prove something to their former teams when they face them in the final six weeks of the regular season. Here's a look at some of the more intriguing matchups:
-- March 11, Boston Bruins at Detroit Red Wings/March 12, Detroit Red Wings at Boston Bruins
An emotional Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin welled up when talking about Tyler Bertuzzi's trade to the Bruins and how much he'll miss the forward. Let's see how fond the Red Wings are of their former teammate when they have to go into the corners against him in back-to-back games.
-- March 16: Columbus Blue Jackets at Los Angeles Kings
By acquiring defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo from the Blue Jackets, the Kings gave themselves a far better shot at finishing first in the Pacific Division and, perhaps, the Western Conference. A loss to the Blue Jackets here would be a setback to those aspirations.
-- April 6: Los Angeles Kings at Vegas Golden Knights
Welcome to the Jonathan Quick Bowl. The veteran goalie, one of the most competitive players in the NHL, said he's motivated after the Kings shocked him by trading him to Columbus, which then turned around and sent him to Vegas. What a juicy storyline. Dear Hockey Gods: any chance we could see a Vegas-Los Angeles clash in the first round of the playoffs? Would be much appreciated.
-- April 6: New York Rangers at St. Louis Blues
Yes, forward Vladimir Tarasenko made noise about wanting out of St. Louis before he finally was traded to New York last month. Nevertheless here's hoping he gets a rousing round of applause from the loyal Blues fan base when he returns. He had some great years with the Blues and helped them win their first Stanley Cup championship in 2019. That has to be worth something.
-- April 11: Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins
Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway were fan favorites in Washington and are quickly becoming the same in Boston after being traded to the Bruins. Let's see how popular they are with their former Capitals teammates when either tries to rub out Alex Ovechkin against the boards.