The Salary Cap is going up, and the Oilers are furious about the future employment of Connor Mcdavid with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Just kidding, but they are pretty mad about having to play at 5PM in their own building and change their whole schedule around just because the Toronto Maple Leafs are coming to town and insist on playing at 7PM on Hockey Night in Canada.
They are right to be mad, it's a bit of a joke that the NHL is doing this. I don't feel bad for them or anything, but if the Leafs had to play at 3PM to accommodate another team you best believe I'd spend all week whining about it.
Oh well, it's Leafs vs Oilers at 7PM - OUR TIME. The Leafs wil be looking to sweep the season series after beating the Oilers 4-3 in overtime back on November 16th.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Edmonton Oilers
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be getting some players back tonight. John Tavares will return after missing about two weeks after he got hurt in practice, and Matthew Knies will return after missing a week.
The Leafs are pretty thin at centre, so it's huge to get Tavares back. He has been performing at a Franchise Player level all season despite being 34 and in the last year of his contract.
The Leafs can't score and have only three goals in their last three games, all losses, so they will definitely be happy to be getting a couple of scorers back in the lineup.
Joseph Woll gets the start and the Leafs will be looking to end their losing streak.
NHL Trade Frenzy
Though Brad Treliving is on his annual September to May vacation, the other NHL franchises are all getting busy getting set up for the playoffs and there have been several big trades this past week, which I will now grade for you.
Calgary receives Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee from Philadelphia for Andre Kuzmenko and a 2nd. I give this one a C for Calgary who are in a bad position and have no real option but to try and add since they have so many guys signed longterm. This deal is fine for them, I guess. I don't really like paying mid-range non-stars so much money, but Treliving really left them in a brutal spot.
Philly gets an A+ though for clearing a bunch of bad money and getting a second round pick. They can flip Kuzmenko at the deadline. Great move here.
The Canucks get an A+ for getting out of the next six years of an $8 million cap-hit for a guy who is already almost 32 and declining. The return wasn't great, but they saved money. I give them a C for turning around and spending the pick on Marcus Peterson who is just alright.
The Rangers never seem to learn and they get an F here for wasing the gift that was Trouba's capspace. Maybe Miller can turn it around but they just have a bunch of old forwards and don't appear to have a clue.
Finally, the Sharks get an A++++ for getting the Dallas Stars to trade a first round pick for Granlund and Ceci. What a bunch of lunatics those guys in Dallas are. Yikes. That's an F for the Stars.
Enjoy the game.