The Toronto Maple Leafs were already sizing up the trade market for defensemen for weeks before Oliver Ekman-Larsson left Wednesday night\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
That was before news from colleague Chris Johnston<\/a> on Thursday that Brandon Carlo may have tweaked something, despite finishing the game.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll get more official word regarding Carlo from the Leafs on Friday after they had the day off Thursday.<\/p>\n The Leafs, of course, were already mired in uncertainty on the blue line, with key defenseman Chris Tanev out with an uncertain timeline. His season could be over, but there\u2019s no official word on that yet. Doing their due diligence, management has been exploring trade options for the past several weeks.<\/p>\n Pending unrestricted free agent Luke Schenn of the Winnipeg Jets has been mentioned as a possibility. I like that fit. You know what you\u2019re getting there.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also Dougie Hamilton of the New Jersey Devils. That\u2019s a more complicated situation, given his contract, with two and a half years left at a $9 million cap hit. The Devils would have to eat some of that to make it work, and even then, I\u2019m not sure how it all comes together. Given that Toronto is believed to be on Hamilton\u2019s approved list of teams as part of his no-trade, you can\u2019t discount it.<\/p>\n And while Leafs\u2019 brass will put together a long list of other targets, the assets at Toronto\u2019s disposal are limited. That\u2019s why Schenn may be a more realistic target.<\/p>\n Whatever the case, a resurgent Leafs team is back in the race and needs to bolster its back end \u2026 somehow.<\/p>\n Sweden\u2019s injury nightmare<\/p>\n Ekman-Larsson\u2019s injury also adds to Sweden\u2019s nightmare injury run, although the early word Thursday was that it should not impact his Olympic participation.<\/p>\n Sweden head coach Sam Hallam confirmed Wednesday that he\u2019s proceeding as though he won\u2019t have Jonas Brodin or Leo Carlsson for the Olympics. Brodin is an especially huge loss \u2014 one of the best shutdown guys in the NHL and a player who always matches up well with Connor McDavid. The Athletic\u2019s Michael Russo reported Tuesday<\/a> that Brodin will be out six to eight weeks. The Anaheim Ducks announced Friday<\/a> that Carlsson is out three to five weeks.<\/p>\n Sweden will wait until closer to the Games to name replacements in case they need to sub out other players, as well. Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Gabe Landeskog, Joel Eriksson Ek and William Nylander are also currently out, although most of them are on the mend, and Sweden is hoping they will all be available.<\/p>\n Oilers targeting top nine forwards<\/p>\n The Edmonton Oilers held their pro scouting meetings last week and came away with a list of top nine forwards they intend to target, both in scouting and trade talks, ahead of the March 6 deadline.<\/p>\n Some of those seeds have already been planted by Oilers GM Stan Bowman in conversations with teams around the league. Still, the sense right now is that most of Edmonton\u2019s talks with teams are preliminary and nothing is imminent. A big part of that is that there are so few sellers because of the parity in the standings.<\/p>\n Most likely, an Oilers trade will come after the Olympics. The internal debate is not surprising, mirroring what Edmonton media has been discussing: Are the Oilers better off with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at center or at wing (where he\u2019s so good with McDavid)? That would influence what position they look to trade for. There is no bad answer. Nugent-Hopkins is effective in either spot. What a luxury to have.<\/p>\n There are more wingers available on the market, so that may end up dictating that answer.<\/p>\n Panthers making calls<\/p>\n About a month ago, it looked like the two-time-reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers had recovered from their early-season hangover and were more or less back. However, they\u2019ve regressed and are currently five points out of a playoff spot.<\/p>\n Of course, everyone in the East is in the same spot. There are four teams with 63 or more points at the top of the playoff race, followed by 10 teams between 53 and 59 points. It\u2019s wild.<\/p>\n