The Toronto Maple Leafs might have lost three consecutive games, head coach Mike Babcock isn't worried about what general manager Kyle Dubas plans on doing ahead of Monday's trade deadline.
"I'm not concerned about our chemistry at all, to tell you the truth," Babcock said to TSN's Mark Masters. "We have a pretty good group, seem to like each other, seem to play hard most nights and enjoy being here and all that, so I’m not that concerned. I've been through a lot of trade deadlines and what I find most years is that if you can improve the team, the guys are all in. They want you to improve the team, if you can. Now, the part for the coaches and the players is we have to do our part to push the GM into helping you."
However, the head coach knows that even though the Leafs would potentially liked to get a blue liner or a gritty forward prior to Monday, it doesn't mean that Dubas will be able to pull it off.
"You got to weigh cost versus the reward and you got to evaluate the level of your team and where it's at and what you think you can do to help the team," he said. "Just because you may want somebody doesn't mean you can afford him and I think that’s kind of like life."
For the moment, Babcock will have to lean on his current players to brake the losing streak on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs will remain without the services of forward Nazem Kadri, who suffered a concussion earlier this week.
Here is a look at the protected lineup for Toronto for Saturday's game:
Forwards
Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson-Matthews-Kapanen
Marleau-Nylander-Brown
Lindholm- Gauthier-Ennis
Defensemen
Rielly-Hainsey
Muzzin-Zaitsev
Dermott-Holl/Ozhiganov
Goaltenders
Andersen
Sparks