Here’s 5 things to watch for…

While the hype for Engvall may have died down a fair bit, he’s still quietly being a comforting fixture on the Leafs third line. I’d argue he’s being everything the Leafs hoped Kerfoot would be, freeing Kerfoot up to be underwhelming in other areas. I don’t want to turn this into a bash Kerfoot section, when I mean to be singing the praises of Engvall, but there is a lot of reason for optimism with Engvall as being a great bottom six utility player who can make guest appearances in the top six on the wing, and I kinda love him for that.

Hopefully Engvall can help jump start Johnsson and Kapanen who both need to contribute more to up their trade value or to give the Leafs a viable third line down the stretch. As it sits right now, both of these players that want to be in the top six would be candidates for demotion to the fourth line if Mikheyev was healthy enough to play. Crap, I wasn’t wanting to bash players here. I mean I love Engvall.

Eventually the Leafs will find themselves in a situation where they have four good left side defensemen in the lineup with Rielly, Muzzin, Sandin, and Dermott. Given the rise of Sandin and the excitement over his future, Dermott could be a player moved to the right side or considered expendable, which is odd considering at this time last year there was plenty of lobbying for Dermott being a fixture in the top four.

Dermott hasn’t made a case for being in the top four, now that he’s been thrust into that situation, and now more than ever, with Andersen out indefinitely, Travis needs to make his case that he’s ready for the bigger role and can handle the tougher competition. There’s probably no one I’d rather see be successful on the Leafs than Dermott, as his personality and appreciation for his team, the city and fans makes him the kind of player you want to keep around. It would just be nice to see the results on the ice as well.

In all the things that are going on, Matthews being in the Rocket Richard race is probably not too important, but somehow he’s been one of the top tier Leafs that has managed to stay healthy, and this might be his best shot at hitting 50 goals and possibly chasing down Ovechkin, although right now it doesn’t look like anyone will catch Ovechkin.

The other aspect of Matthews getting back in the race is that the Leafs aren’t going to be too great at keeping pucks out of their net, so they’ll have to focus on putting them in the net instead, and this is going to fall largely on Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares to do.

Are we ever going to see him in a Leafs uniform again? I’m guessing not at this point, and I wonder if he could be part of a potential fit in a deal for Georgiev as well, given that it’s kinda ridiculous that the Rangers are still trying to use Brendan Smith as a 4th line winger.

Hutchinson has struggled in his recent relief efforts, as he has throughout the season, but over his last four starts, three of them can be considered his best work of the season. It goes without saying the Leafs need that guy in net tonight, and not the guy who had a difficult time on mop up duty against Florida. A good game from Hutchinson is a good case for him getting his shot to stick around as the #2 guy behind Andersen, and carry the load until Andersen is ready to return, which is hopefully (but unlikely) this weekend when the Leafs have back to back games and someone other than Hutchinson will probably need to start.