Toronto Maple Leafs and Eastern Conference benefit from NHL off-season deals

The National Hockey League season begins on Wednesday night. But the big news from the off-season is that the Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be entering one of their rare lucid periods.

In the long fog since the team last won the Stanley Cup in 1967, moments of clarity have proved fleeting. Yet they came in a bunch this summer.

The Leafs snagged a coveted coach in Mike Babcock, who has won the cup once with the Detroit Red Wings and Olympic gold twice with Team Canada. They worked out a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins and rid themselves of Phil Kessel, a talented moper ill-suited to a rebuilding effort.

They hired a legend Lou Lamoriello to be their general manager, and they brought two-time NHL Coach of the Year Jacques Lemaire on board as a special assignments coach.

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Toronto are headed in the right direction, as is the league’s entire Eastern Conference.

Whereas last year’s off-season flow of quality players was a one-way street heading west, the traffic flowed in both directions this summer.

The most significant move of all was a surprise, but powerful Chicago forward Brandon Saad played so well in the play-offs that the Blackhawks could no longer afford to retain him. So they traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he signed a six-year, US$36 million (Dh132.2m) contract.

Likewise, TJ Oshie migrated east from St Louis Blues to the Washington Capitals, as did Ryan O’Reilly from the Colorado Avalanche to the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres signed O’Reilly to a seven-year, $52.5m contract extension that must have spun his head. Six days later, police in Canada charged him with crashing his pick-up truck into a Tim Hortons doughnut shop in the early hours (ice hockey player, pick-up truck, Tim Hortons – possibly the most Canadian car crash ever).

These eastward moves were offset by the important players who headed west. Milan Lucic shifted from the Boston Bruins to the Los Angeles Kings, Dougie Hamilton from Boston to the Calgary Flames, and Brandon Sutter from Pittsburgh to the Vancouver Canucks.

The conferences also split the goods at the top of the draft. Connor McDavid, touted as the finest prospect since Sidney Crosby, went to the Edmonton Oilers with the first pick. Jack Eichel, who is considered almost as good as McDavid, was picked second by Buffalo.

Even expansion is running 50-50 geographically. Las Vegas in western United States and Quebec City in eastern Canada advanced to the third and final stage by which potential additions to the league are judged. If approved, the earliest the prospective franchises could lace up is probably 2017.

The loveliest story of the off-season was provided by big-hearted defenceman PK Subban, who donated $10m to the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Subban’s career is becoming the stuff of legend at the Montreal Canadiens. So it was fitting that Elise Beliveau, widow of Habs all-timer Jean Beliveau, attended the donation ceremony.

Another legend of the game also had a moment in the spotlight. Gordie Howe, 87, attended a Detroit pre-season game last month. Howe has been slowly recovering from a series of strokes suffered last year.

Much has changed on and off the ice since Chicago beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Stanley Cup in June. Yet at least one thing endures – Jaromir Jagr, forever young at 43, begins his 22nd season in the NHL when his Florida Panthers host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.

rmckenzie@thenational.ae

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