Maple Leafs – Page 34 – The view from left field

Liljegren shooting for top-six role on Leafs blue line, whenever that might be — Toronto Sun

Comfort and confidence have Timothy Liljegren in an optimistic frame of mind as the defenceman looks ahead to the 2020-21 hockey season. Read More
Liljegren shooting for top-six role on Leafs blue line, whenever that might be — Toronto Sun
Comfort and confidence have Timothy Liljegren in an optimistic frame of mind as the defenceman looks ahead to the 2020-21 hockey season.
The X factor, of course, is not knowing when he will take his next on-ice stride in the Maple Leafs organization.
“It’s going pretty good, just trying to stay in shape as much as I can,” Liljegren said on Saturday from his off-season home in Sweden. “But it’s weird. Usually there are different steps in the summer workout, but now you don’t really know when things are going to start up again.”
All the while, Liljegren, who said he has been on the ice “a couple of times” as Sweden didn’t impose a similar kind of restrictive lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic that we’ve experienced in North America, has a fairly simple goal.
During a conference call last week with reporters, Leafs assistant general manager Laurence Gilman, who also serves as the Toronto Marlies general manager, said he would “be surprised” if Liljegren doesn’t play in top seven or eight defencemen with the Leafs next season.
Liljegren has a desire to go one better.
“For sure, my goal is to get into the top six,” Liljegren said. “I played three years in the AHL and I had 11 games (with the Leafs) this year, so I think the next step would be to try to crack the roster full-time.”
After making his NHL debut on Jan. 18 against the Chicago Blackhawks — and becoming the answer to a trivia question as he became the 1,000th player in Leafs franchise history — Liljegren participated in the 2020 AHL all-star classic before getting recalled by the Leafs, playing in eight games in February and two more in March.
In those 11 games with the Leafs, there were some bumps, which was to be expected. Liljegren was on the ice for eight goals against during five-on-five play and three for, while averaging 10 minutes 18 seconds of ice a game, and in possession, he had a mark of 43.7%.
But the man behind the Leafs bench, Sheldon Keefe, was instrumental in Liljegren’s growth with the Marlies. From Keefe’s guidance with the farm club, as well as that of the assistant coaches, came discipline in Liljegren’s game.
“He has taught me to play through structure, but still be creative within that structure,” Liljegren said. “I’ve learned when to calculate the risks of being creative and choosing the right time to do certain things.
“Just the fact he has seen me play for three years is good for him and me. He knows what I can develop, and I know what I can do when he is coaching.
“He helped me a lot with the transition to the NHL.”
Liljegren indicated he would be part of the Leafs’ group of Black Aces when, or if, the 2019-20 regular season or playoffs are resumed.
In the event there is no conclusion of 2019-20 and we don’t see NHL hockey again until the start of the 2020-21 season, whenever that might be, Liljegren would be just one of two right-shooting defencemen (as of today) in the Leafs mix, along with Justin Holl. Neither Tyson Barrie nor Cody Ceci, both righties, are expected to re-sign with Toronto in free agency.
Recently signed Mikko Lehtonen, who shoots left, said he would be comfortable on the right side.
Liljegren doesn’t necessarily see a lack of right-handed shots on the Leafs blue line as an advantage in his favour.
“I think every team wants a right-hand defenceman on the right side, but if there is a player who is better than you, you’re not going to play,” Liljegren said. “It matters a bit, but you still have to be better than the next guy.”
If Liljegren, who turned 21 on April 30, does become a Leafs regular in ’20-’21, he would join six other recent Toronto first-round picks in the lineup, including Morgan Rielly, Frederik Gauthier (assuming he still is with the Leafs), William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Rasmus Sandin.
“I gained confidence from playing at that stage, and the feeling that I can play at that level,” Liljegren said. “Gaining that experience is going to help me a lot in the future.”
tkoshan@postmedia.com
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Marner ponders impact of coronavirus on NHL, Leafs re-sign Brooks to two-year pact — Toronto Sun

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to make an impact around the world, Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner has concerns about the National Hockey League’s possible return to the ice. Read More
Marner ponders impact of coronavirus on NHL, Leafs re-sign Brooks to two-year pact — Toronto Sun

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to make an impact around the world, Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner has concerns about the National Hockey League’s possible return to the ice.

While playing an online video game with a group of players, the subject of the NHL resuming action was raised.

“What my thought on this is, OK, I’m all down for starting everything back up, let’s rock. But what if someone gets sick and dies?” Marner said on the video, which was posted to Twitter on Wednesday. “What happens? It’s awful to think about, but still.”

While that could be a question on the minds of some, the NHL, if it does wind up resuming the 2019-20 season, or starting the playoffs some time in the coming months, would have every possibility in regard to the coronavirus explored and answered, to the best of its ability.

“Interesting to see what will happen,” Marner said on the video of returning to play hockey in general. “It’s the same with the NBA. If one league plays, then all leagues have to play. If we don’t play, the amount of money we’re going to lose is going to be …”
Marner also raised the issue of players such as the Montreal Canadiens’ Max Domi, who has Type 1 diabetes. Domi was a teammate of Marner with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

“If he gets it (the coronavirus), he is in one (situation), like bad,” Marner said.

more…….

Marner ponders impact of coronavirus on NHL, Leafs re-sign Brooks to two-year pact — Toronto Sun

Leafs sign Brooks to two-year contract, Robertson named OHL’s most sportsmanlike player — Toronto Sun

Put Adam Brooks in the mix for a Maple Leafs forward spot next season. Read More
Leafs sign Brooks to two-year contract, Robertson named OHL’s most sportsmanlike player — Toronto Sun

And while we realize Brooks was probably in that conversation anyway, the notion became a little more official on Thursday when the Leafs announced they have signed the 24-year-old Winnipeg native to a two-year, two-way contract with an annual average value of $725,000 US.

Brooks got his feet wet in the National Hockey League this past December and January, playing in seven games for the Leafs and recording three assists.

In 29 games with the Toronto Marlies, Brooks had 20 points (nine goals and 11 assists).

“He got his first taste of the NHL this year and it was really impressive to see him thrive within those opportunities,” Marlies coach Greg Moore said earlier this week. “When he came back you could also see a level of confidence that he gained from that experience.”

A fourth-round pick by the Leafs in 2016 (92nd overall), Brooks has compiled 79 points in 147 regular-season games with the Marlies. He has 14 points in 33 career playoff games, including six in 20 when the Marlies won the Calder Cup in 2018.https://www.youtube.com/embed/GKWKVn7kAnI?

Leafs sign Brooks to two-year contract, Robertson named OHL’s most sportsmanlike player — Toronto Sun

NHL may go straight to the playoffs when the season resumes — TampaBayProSports

The NHL is moving ahead with the notion that they will be able to finish the 2019-20 season. The new wrinkle is that commissioner Gary Bettman, in talks with the NHLPA has moved on from the idea that the NHL will be able to complete the regular season. The season would begin with the Stanley […]
NHL may go straight to the playoffs when the season resumes — TampaBayProSports

Erik Karlsson doesn’t see much reason for Sharks to resume regular season — Times-Standard

Erik Karlsson is mindful of the playoff and Stanley Cup aspirations of other players around the NHL but doesn’t see much reason for the Sharks to come back and try to finish what’s left of the regular season. While commissioner Gary Bettman is optimistic the NHL can restart play at some point this summer, the…
Erik Karlsson doesn’t see much reason for Sharks to resume regular season — Times-Standard

NHL commissioner says cancelling season “not something I’m even contemplating” — Times-Standard

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday afternoon dismissed any notion that the league will not be able to resume its season and award the Stanley Cup at some point in the next several months. Appearing as a guest late in a virtual town hall hosted by the San Jose Sharks for members of its business…
NHL commissioner says cancelling season “not something I’m even contemplating” — Times-Standard

Leafs prospect Woll ‘learned a lot’ in first year of pro hockey — Toronto Sun

The news was didn’t catch Joseph Woll off guard, but that didn’t make it much easier to digest. Read More
Leafs prospect Woll ‘learned a lot’ in first year of pro hockey — Toronto Sun

The news was didn’t catch Joseph Woll off guard, but that didn’t make it much easier to digest.

When the American Hockey League officially pulled the plug on the remainder of the 2019-20 regular season and the Calder Cup playoffs on Monday because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the AHL rookie year of the Toronto Marlies goaltender was done.

“It has been a weird couple of months with not knowing exactly what was going to happen,” Woll said on Tuesday from his parents’ home in St. Louis. “But now that it’s over, it’s tough. I wanted to be able to see some of the guys again.

“With pro hockey, you never know what the team is going to look like next year. At the same time, it’s good to have an answer and be out of the unknown. We can take a step back and focus on the summer now.”

Before he completely sets his concentration on the off-season and eventually returning to Toronto to resume his hockey career, the definite conclusion of the season allowed Woll to look back and make a few judgments on how it unfolded for him.

A third-round pick by the Leafs in 2016 — he was taken 61 picks after Toronto announced Auston Matthews’ name first overall in Buffalo — Woll made the transition to the AHL after three seasons at Boston College, appearing in 32 games for the Marlies.

Woll, who turns 22 on July 12, described his season as a bit of a roller-coaster. He had a record of 11-16-3, an .880 save percentage and a 3.75 goals-against average; the Marlies were nine points out of a playoff spot in the North Division when play was halted on March 12.

Not the greatest statistics line, to be sure, but Woll wasn’t asking for the world in his first run at the minor-pro level.

“I learned a lot, to be honest,” Woll said. “I think I dealt with a lot of adversity and so did the team.

“It was different than any hockey I had played before. Across the board, everyone is more skilled, for the most part stronger, faster. It can be a little overwhelming at first. The way players see the ice, their ability to make plays, was something I had to adjust to.

“It really taught me to have a really short mindset and focus on going into the next game, work on keeping your identity with all the ups and downs.”

The Leafs aren’t necessarily set in goal for the long haul — Frederik Andersen’s contract expires after the 2020-21 season and Jack Campbell’s is done after 2021-22 — but it’s not a managerial group in Toronto that will rush anyone, Marlies goaltenders included.

Kasimir Kaskisuo is eligible for free agency, and the Leafs are hopeful that Ian Scott can make a full recovery from hip surgery.

When we asked Woll about the role of patience in his development, he mentioned a pair of goalies, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and and Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, who have taken different routes to the National Hockey League.

“That’s one thing around goalies, the stigma that they might take a little longer to develop, but I think it’s unique to every player,” Woll said. “You see someone like Carter Hart go right into the NHL and be so successful, and you see a guy like Jordan Binnington who had to grind and spend his time in the minors.

“I’m just trying to find what my path is. It’s not like I’m trying to streamline it like Carter or necessarily wait for years like Jordan. I’m keeping my head down and working, and when it’s my time, hopefully I will be ready.”

Like everyone else involved in the sport, Woll doesn’t know when we will see hockey games again. He enjoyed all aspects of his first year in Toronto — Woll lived with Marlies teammate Kristians Rubins in a condo not far from the Coca-Cola Coliseum — but, like he is with his on-ice growth, he will be patient.

“You have to go with the flow of it,” Woll said. “I’ll be training like the season is starting like normal but I’m also prepared (for the idea) it could be a pretty long summer. You just have to make sure you’re prepared for whatever comes.”

MIND GAMES

Joseph Woll isn’t about to take a mental break from hockey during the off-season.

“The biggest thing I want to spend time on is my mind and focus more internally this summer,” the Toronto Marlies goaltender and Maple Leafs prospect said.

“When things don’t go your way and you’re not happy with the game you played, it’s important to look at it from a long-run perspective and looking at how that can make you better. It’s just about being rational and remembering that I’m still young and this was my first year in the American Hockey League and there is a long road ahead. I think that’s the right thing to look to.”

Not that Woll is going to ignore the physical side of keeping his body ready to return to Toronto.

“I’ve been training a lot and the Leafs and the Marlies have a lot of good virtual programs they have had us working with,” Woll said.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

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MAPLE LEAFS

Two years after Dubas’ promotion to GM, truest evaluation of Leafs will come in playoffs — Toronto Sun

When Kyle Dubas was promoted to general manager of the Maple Leafs two years ago, he made an observation during the club’s news conference at what was then the Air Canada Centre. Read More
Two years after Dubas’ promotion to GM, truest evaluation of Leafs will come in playoffs — Toronto Sun

When Kyle Dubas was promoted to general manager of the Maple Leafs two years ago, he made an observation during the club’s news conference at what was then the Air Canada Centre.

“We enter into another part of our journey, which is to reach our ultimate goal of contending perennially to be fighting at this time for the Stanley Cup,” Dubas said. “Instead of sitting here.”

That was on May 11, 2018.

In the short time since, the Leafs haven’t had much of an opportunity to put some substance behind those words, losing in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Boston Bruins last spring before getting themselves to third place (again) in the Atlantic Division when the COVID-19 global pandemic caused the NHL to pause its regular season on March 12.

For Dubas and the Leafs, it’s about what comes next, even if no one knows when there will be an opportunity to play games again and what the outcomes of those games will be.

Fact is, Dubas has had the kind of initial run as an NHL general manager one might expect from someone who has not yet had his 35th birthday. There have been hiccups along the way, but Dubas hasn’t come untracked from his vision of putting together a fast, puck-hungry team that has possession at the top of its to-do list at each opening faceoff.

Within 16 months of taking over, Dubas charted the course of the Leafs with the signings (in order) of John Tavares, William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to long-term contracts. The Nylander talks didn’t follow a smooth process, something Dubas lamented later; after signing with minutes to spare on Dec. 1, 2018, Nylander was a non-factor for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. That was forgotten by the prolific way in which Nylander played before the pause, scoring 31 goals in 68 games.

Matthews, who has the ability to take aim at 50 goals a season for the next decade, and Marner, whose playmaking talents have put him at better than a point-a-game pace for the past two season, are the envy of most teams across the NHL.

As captain, Tavares is the leader that binds the club. Point is, it’s a solid quartet of players to have as the majority of the nucleus.

The catch, of course, is to what extent the commitment of more than $40-million US to four players will impact the roster going forward. That was part of the conversation well before the coronavirus pandemic threw future schedules into question and the adverse effect the stoppage of games is expected to have on the salary cap.

Three integral players — goaltender Frederik Andersen, defenceman Morgan Rielly and forward Zach Hyman — will command significant raises once their current contracts expire. Andersen and Hyman are slated to become unrestricted free agents after the 2020-21 season while Rielly follows a year later.

The promotion of Sheldon Keefe to head coach last November after the firing of Mike Babcock crucially put Dubas in lockstep with his coach. There’s a shared vision now and count on Keefe, under whom there were steps forward, to have a greater influence once he can guide the team with a benefit of training camp rather than taking over seven weeks into a season.

Dubas probably wouldn’t mind another crack at certain decisions he has made in the past couple of years, but there aren’t many NHL GMs who would look back and claim to be completely satisfied.

The Leafs appear to have shored up their backup goaltending with the acquisition of Jack Campbell in February. The mess at the position had its roots in Dubas choosing to go with the unproven (in the NHL) Garret Sparks instead of Curtis McElhinney coming out of camp in 2018. Sparks didn’t last the season after McElhinney, a stalwart the previous year, was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes. Michael Hutchinson didn’t excel in the role either.

Neither Tyson Barrie, who is likely to depart via free agency once 2019-20 is done, nor Alex Kerfoot were glowing in their initial months as Leafs after they came east in the trade that sent Nazem Kadri to Colorado.

A team that had just a three-point lead on a playoff spot when the season was halted, as the Leafs did on the Florida Panthers, remains a work in progress.

Any proper judgment of Dubas can’t be made until the Leafs have had chances to prove themselves, and to prove his construction of the team was the correct one, in the playoffs.

We do know that holding news conferences in late April or early May and trying to project what might come in the following season won’t be acceptable.

NHL owners, players have will to return to play, but is there a way? — Boston Herald

The NHL’s “Return to Play” committee continues to meet by phone and Zoom and whatever means necessary to attempt to tackle forever-in-flux issues, a task not unlike trying to catch the wind.
NHL owners, players have will to return to play, but is there a way? — Boston Herald

Nobody questions the will of both the players and owners to award a Stanley Cup at some point this summer, but is there a way?

That’s a far tougher puzzle to solve. Still, the NHL’s “Return to Play” committee continues to meet by phone and Zoom and whatever means necessary to attempt to tackle forever-in-flux issues, a task not unlike trying to catch the wind.

The discussions start with basic questions: Can we resume play? How? When? Where? And they discuss the problems with each.

Can they resume play? Not yet.

How? By skipping the remaining regular-season games and having 24 teams in a playoff tournament, with the bottom teams among them playing their way into the field, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

When? Too early to say, but getting later by the day.

Where? I’ve been told that the most recent flavor of the day has centered on having the games played at anywhere from two to four host cities.

The first problem: How to transport players from all over the globe to the host cities. What travel restrictions must be overcome? At the moment, anyone entering Canada from another country, including the United States, must quarantine for 14 days. So if training camp is 10 days, don’t you actually need to block off 24 days before playing a game? The quarantine rule could be lifted soon, but what does “soon” mean, and does it mean permanently lifted?

And then there is the issue of testing the players, referees, stadium-operations staff, club officials, etc., for the coronavirus. Which tests will they use? Do we even know if there are any reliable tests on the market? Anecdotal evidence makes me ask that question: Facebook friend and former USA Today baseball writer Mel Antonen, battling COVID-19 for weeks, posted Sunday, two days before he was taken to the emergency room: “Getting negative and positive tests, but the way I feel, the negatives feel more accurate. I’m going to be fine, but there are glitches.”about:blank

New disease, new tests, new possible treatments, a lot of learning as we go. What applies today might not tomorrow.

In the early stages of the virus invading the United States, NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, said during a video interview with USA Today: “You don’t need to be walking around with a mask right now. Masks, quite frankly, are more important for people who are infected to prevent them from infecting someone else.”

That thinking has changed, and to go out in public without one now in some places is to put oneself at risk of getting fined, not to mention being on the receiving end of dirty looks. I went for a walk Friday and was carrying a mask, ready to put it on if I came within 10 feet of another walker. A masked man from across the street spotted me, stopped dead in his tracks, made an exaggerated sign of the cross and said a prayer for me. Since his lips were covered with a mask, I couldn’t read them, so I’ll have to guess: “Dear Lord, please give this ignorant slug the courage to table all common sense and take his every marching order from the authorities. If there is one thing we don’t need at this time, it’s people thinking for themselves.”

Hockey players won’t be required to wear masks on the ice, but will they have to wear them when walking from their hotel to the arena? What might someone who recognizes Brad Marchand have to say to him that he could use as fuel for that day’s game? If the hotel is too far, surely gathering in the close quarters of a team bus wouldn’t be allowed, right? Will each player rent his own car and get to and from his workplace that way? And after the game is played in an empty arena, where several teams per day will play, is showering out of the question? Will they have to walk or drive back to the hotel in uniform to shower there?

Who will feed them? Someone will have to wash their clothes, not just their uniforms, but the clothes they wear when not at the arena.

If Major League Baseball is up and running at the same time, how will regional TV scheduling conflicts be addressed?

That shouldn’t be a problem for national TV if the Stanley Cup playoffs are taking place from July 24 through Aug. 9. NBC was supposed to be televising the Olympic Games then, so there should be plenty of programming slots available. Despite the strange vibe that comes with no fans in the stands, ratings likely would be great. Even sports fans new to hockey might tune in and get hooked.

Unlike in baseball, where the owners and players would have to renegotiate contracts in a way that motivates both sides to want to return, that’s not a problem with hockey. The players and owners work under a salary cap with what’s known as a “true-up of revenues.”

So they’re joined at the hip.

Say a player has a $1 million salary. If the revenues fall short of anticipated, after all the salaries are combined together, the player might end up only getting $850,000. Or, if revenues end up being more than anticipated against the dollar level that’s in a player’s contract, he would get a check for more money than his salary. In the early years of the salary cap the latter scenario tended to happen, but for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the weakening of the Canadian dollar, that hasn’t been the case in recent years.

So it’s good that the two sides don’t have to argue over how the money will be divided. Normally, that would be considered a big hurdle, but these are not normal circumstances.

That brings us right back to where we started. There’s a shared, strong will to return to play NHL games, all right, but is there a way?

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Bruins Legend Gerry Cheevers Predicts Boston To Win Stanley Cup ‘Soon’ — NESN.com

Gerry Cheevers believes the Boston Bruins’ bright present will reap future glory. The Bruins legend predicted Thursday in a virtual town hall with season ticket holders the team would win the Stanley Cup Final in the near future. “It’s obviously a great franchise,” Cheevers said, according to NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin. “Just stick by them. They’re going…
Bruins Legend Gerry Cheevers Predicts Boston To Win Stanley Cup ‘Soon’ — NESN.com

Gerry Cheevers believes the Boston Bruins’ bright present will reap future glory. The Bruins predicted Thursday in a virtual town hall with season ticket holders the team would win the Stanley Cup Final in the near future. “It’s obviously a great franchise,” Cheevers said, according to NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin. “Just stick by them. They’re going to win the Cup soon.” Cheevers based his prediction on the enduring quality of the Bruins’ front office and players. “They’ve done a great job, that organization,” he said. “I don’t know what the format’s going to be or what’s going to happen. You (drafted) a guy like Patrice Bergeron (in 2003) — when I still worked for the Bruins (as a scout) … — and Zdeno Chara. I worked with Tuukka (Rask) a little bit. These are good people. The Bruins have done a good job in hiring and signing and recruiting classy players and certainly Patrice Bergeron is the A-1 example of that. And you like being associated with people like that.” The Bruins rebounded from last season’s Stanley Cup Final heartbreak nicely in 2019-20. They were leading the NHL after 70 games with 100 points when the season paused in March. Cheevers seemingly has faith the high-performing group will recover their place atop the NHL heap when the players return from hiatus the coronavirus outbreak prompted. And the Hockey Hall of Famer knows a thing or two about what makes a winning team. He played for the Bruins between 1967 and 1972 and between 1975 and 1980, winning two Stanley Cup Final with the big, bad B’s in the process.

NHL Caps release Leipsic after woman-bashing chat goes public — Winnipeg Sun

The Winnipeg NHLer at the centre of a social media group chat that degraded women has been released by his team. Read More
NHL Caps release Leipsic after woman-bashing chat goes public — Winnipeg Sun

The Winnipeg NHLer at the centre of a social media group chat that degraded women has been released by his team.

Brendan Leipsic played 61 games for the Washington Capitals this past season, but this week became embroiled in a firestorm of controversy which came to a head on Friday morning.

“The Washington Capitals have placed Brendan Leipsic on unconditional waivers for purposes of terminating his contract,” the NHL team said in a statement.

The move comes after the Capitals and NHL on Wednesday denounced the actions of players involved in an Instagram group chat that defiled and mocked women, referred to their conquests as “kills,” made fun of their shapes and boasted of Leipsic’s use of cocaine.

“There is no place in our league for such statements, attitudes and behaviour, no matter the forum,” the NHL had said.

The chat, which dated back several months and was intended to be private, was made public by an anonymous Instagram user who wanted the women made aware of the misogynists involved in it.

The chat included several products of the Winnipeg minor hockey system, including Jack Rodewald, who played for Florida’s AHL team this past season, and Leipsic’s brother, Jeremey.

Jeremey Leipsic, 23, was released from the University of Manitoba Bisons hockey team on Thursday.

Two of the women targetted in the chat told the Winnipeg Sun of the humiliation they faced when it became public.

“It’s very heartbreaking to see,” Winnipeg’s Chloe Giesbrecht, 24, said. “You see hockey on TV… (players) signing hockey sticks and taking photos, but what are they doing behind all of that? They’re supposed to be role models, and this is the exact opposite. The exact opposite of what you would want your son to be like.

“If people keep practising that, this is just going to be a continuous cycle of these group chats and this misogynistic hockey culture.”

Another woman who didn’t want her name used said even if the players lost their jobs, it wouldn’t make her feel any better.

“It’s not banter. It’s not funny. It’s harmful,” she said. “And there are people who won’t take this well and it will have lasting psychological consequences. Some women got really attacked in there.”

Brendan Leipsic, 25, was in his third full season in the NHL. He’d already been traded twice, put on waivers and left unprotected in the Las Vegas expansion draft.

Drafted by Nashville in the third round in 2012, he was traded to Toronto in 2015, claimed by the Golden Knights in 2017, traded to Vancouver in 2018 and claimed off waivers by the L.A. Kings the same year.

Washington signed him last summer to a one-year deal worth $700,000.0

NESN Diary: Unpacking Brendan Leipsic’s Despicable Comments (And Other Random Thoughts) — NESN.com

Each day during the sports pause stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, NESN.com will publish a diary full of random thoughts, opinions, takeaways, and other cool tidbits we’ve stumbled across in the absence of actual games. Because why not? We’re all in this together. If you never heard of Brendan Leipsic, chances are that changed Wednesday.…
NESN Diary: Unpacking Brendan Leipsic’s Despicable Comments (And Other Random Thoughts) — NESN.com