On one hand, Keith Pelley put a premium on protecting future draft picks.<\/p>\n
On the\u00a0other, he wanted no part of any attempt to undermine his own players\u00a0on game nights\u00a0by endorsing\u00a0a planned\u00a0\u201ctank\u201d\u00a0of\u00a0remaining games\u00a0that could help the Maple\u00a0Leafs\u00a0retain\u00a0a traded draft pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m almost offended by the question,\u201d Pelley said Tuesday, a day after his club\u2019s emotional effort in a 5-4 overtime win against the Ducks<\/a> in Anaheim. \u201cThere is zero chance \u2013 zero \u2013 the Toronto Maple Leafs will tank. I don\u2019t believe in it, ownership doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cIt changes the integrity of sports, the integrity of the Leafs. If fans are angry, I get that, but we will not tank.\u201d<\/p>\n His club has seven regular-season games remaining. Much to the dismay of some, the Maple Leafs have won three of their past four games to halt a slide into the bottom five of the NHL standings, where their first-round pick would not revert to the Boston Bruins. In 2015-16, there was some subtle roster twists in the final games that kept the last-place Leafs\u2019 draft lottery chances high.<\/p>\n This dressing room, tired of hearing that it didn\u2019t respond to a season-ending hit<\/a> on captain Auston Matthews<\/a>, has gone overboard at times in the ensuing nine games to correct that, when not getting big games out of AHL call-ups and others playing for jobs next season.<\/p>\n Goaltenders Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz, badly out-shot most nights,\u00a0are also\u00a0inspiring teammates\u00a0with\u00a0their play. Too little, too late, but the pride is\u00a0evident.<\/p>\n The Leafs\u2019 California road trip continues Thursday in San Jose and Saturday in Los Angeles. They are ahead of Florida and the New York Rangers in the East and a batch of clubs in the West, though many hold games in hand on Toronto.<\/p>\n