Carrick, McElhinney battle for roster spots in Leafs preseason finale

TORONTO – In his two-and-a-half seasons with the Maple Leafs, Connor Carrick has emerged as one of the most communicative, verbose players in the team’s dressing room. But on Saturday night, in Toronto’s preseason finale against Detroit, Carrick can only let his play do the talking.
 
The 24-year-old defenceman is on the bubble to make Toronto’s roster out of training camp, and cuts are looming as early as Sunday. The noise around Carrick and his status has grown increasingly shrill, while the man himself has fought to stay centered. 
 
“You have to take care of your play, that’s the best way to do it,” Carrick said after morning skate at MasterCard Centre. “It’s not easy by any means, but my head is going to be where my body is and my body is playing for the Leafs tonight. So that’s my focus.”
 
He’s not the only one. Goaltender Curtis McElhinney is expected to play all of Saturday’s game in a final effort to prove he deserves to beat out Garret Sparks and Calvin Pickard to retain his job as Frederik Andersen’s back-up this season. Over three periods of action in the preseason, McElhinney has done everything right, allowing only one goal on 32 shots. 
 
But unlike Carrick, McElhinney’s future isn’t hinging as much on individual performance as long-term success for Toronto at the goalie position. McElhinney has been a back-up for most of his 186-game NHL career, and at 35-years-old, is entering the final season of his two-year, $1.7 million contract. Yet he’s kept on improving in Toronto, and last year boasted the best save percentage (.934) among NHL back-ups in 18 games played. 
 
All things considered, McElhinney might be the right man for the job this season, but Sparks, 25, and Pickard, 26, both have NHL experience too and would need waivers to reach the American Hockey League. 
 
Losing either one or both of them could handicap the Leafs at the back-up spot down the road. 
 
“I don’t really know where the organization is at in terms of their decision,” McElhinney said. “I’ve been around for a little while, seen quite a bit and my skin has gotten pretty think over the years. I’m just looking at tonight as another opportunity to showcase what I can bring and that’s all I’m focusing on.”
 
Over the 11 years he’s dressed for six different NHL teams, McElhinney has become familiar with some healthy competition and the pressure associated with winning his spot back year after year. By now he’s even come to genuinely embrace it. 
 
“It’s not like I don’t break eye contact with Sparksy or anything like that. We have a good relationship,” he said of Sparks, who will be his back-up in Detroit. “He understands he’s here to push me and I’m here to push him and the bottom line is we’re all trying to put our best foot forward right now and make a case for it.”
 
For Carrick, the chance to make his case for an NHL spot may have already passed. Earlier this week, head coach Mike Babcock changed his practice groups into one with players bound for the NHL and one for those bound for the AHL.  Carrick was in the latter category, while newcomer Igor Ozhiganov established the inside track for Toronto’s third-pairing spot on the right side. 
 
At the time, Carrick claimed not to be reading into Babcock’s decision, but from the sounds of it, he hasn’t gone in search of many answers from his coach either. 
 
“We haven’t talked much,” Carrick said. “I’m not sure there’s a ton to talk about.”
 
It may have been that way for a while. Carrick was a healthy scratch in favour of Roman Polak for 15 of the Leafs’ final 30 regular season games last season and didn’t dress in their first-round playoff series against Boston. Carrick doesn’t kill penalties, which put him at a disadvantage when Polak patrolled the blue line, and does again now with Ozhiganov stepping in. 
 
Babcock said Carrick evolving into an important player on the kill would help him re-take an NHL job, as would more consistency in his overall play. Those are fine goals for the future, but with only one evaluation left right now, Carrick will have to rely on that which he already does well. 
 
“I’ve got a bunch of guys counting on me tonight to make good plays and that’s what it’s all about,” Carrick said. “You always want to represent yourself well. I’m always grateful to pull on the blue and white and I have an opportunity to do that tonight.”
 
The same goes for McElhinney. While he's an old hand at beginning again somewhere new, there no desire for a fresh start outside Toronto any time soon.
 
“I’m not too sure…where the organization wants to go, he said. “As of today, I’m here and I’ll just have fun with the game tonight.”