Maple Leafs at Hurricanes
While a host of Eastern Conference teams jockey for playoff positioning, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes are engaged in a separate battle altogether. With both clubs sitting in the bottom-five of the overall standings, Friday's matchup between the Maple Leafs and the host Hurricanes could have major ramifications in the race for the No. 1 pick in this summer's draft. Toronto is in the running for that pick, having gone 2-16-2 in its previous 20 games.
While the Maple Leafs free fall out of postseason contention - and likely become major sellers at the trade deadline as a result - the Hurricanes have actually been respectable since the calendar flipped. Carolina is 10-6-3 in 2015, though it is coming off a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the New York Islanders and have dropped three of four overall. The Hurricanes cruised to a 4-1 win over Toronto on Jan. 19 behind a pair of goals from captain Eric Staal.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SNO (Toronto), FS-CR (Carolina)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (23-30-5): The rest of Toronto's season is expected to be a mix of veteran players changing addresses and young skaters being given a chance to earn expanded roles for next season - and that's weighing on the entire roster. "I think anyone knows (if they're) on an expiring deal and they're (an unrestricted free agent) they're a candidate to be traded," said forward Daniel Winnik, one of the more likely Maple Leafs to be dealt. "When you're on a one-year deal I think you're being evaluated every game of the year."
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (20-29-7): Carolina's season has been a major disappointment, and no Hurricanes player has had a tougher time of it than forward Jeff Skinner. The 22-year-old is a former Calder Trophy winner who exploded for a career-high 33 goals last season, but has fallen off a cliff in 2014-15 - scoring just 13 goals and adding nine assists to go along with a minus-17 rating in 51 games. "It's been a little frustrating for me, personally," he told the Raleigh News & Observer last week. "When you want to help the team win, for me, being a part of that is producing offensively."
OVERTIME
1. Toronto has mustered just 14 goals during its franchise-record 13-game road winless skid.
2. Carolina LW Jiri Tlusty scored his team's lone goal versus the Islanders, but has yet to tally in 13 career meetings against the team that selected him with the 13th overall pick of the 2006 draft.
3. The Maple Leafs are 5-for-16 on the power play in the last six games.