ANAHEIM — After 22 games on the blue line so far this season, Six Nations’ Brandon Montour and his Anaheim Ducks are settled into the middle of the Pacific Division, four points behind the first place San Jose Sharks, two behind Calgary and one point in back of the Vancouver Canukes. Brantford’s Adam Henrique has four goals and six assists in the same number of games as a centre.
On Friday last, the Toronto Maple Leafs won 2-1 in overtime against the Ducks. Scoring for Toronto were Patrick Marleau, his fourth, and Morgan Rielly who won it in OT, with his ninth of the year. Pontus Aberg notched his sixth of the season from Ritchie and Henrique.
Rumours of Montour being courted by the Leafs as trade deadline approaches, in a possible deal that move William Nylander and his enormous wallet. Although Leaf insiders and Toronto sports writers agree that one-for-one, a Nylander for Montour deal is a non-starter, but a package deal could be worked out.
For Six Nations hockey fans, the very thought of Montour in Toronto Maple Leaf blue is an exciting one, especially this year when the Leafs rebuilding a contender for the Cup that eluded them since 1967. No doubt, there would be a lot of trips to the ACC from Six Nations should that materialize, But the Ducks seem pretty pleased with their second year blue liner, and there have been no serious rumours out of Anaheim.
Saturday, Nov. 18th, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Ducks 4-3 in OT with Montour scoring his second of the season on a wrap around.
“Last couple of games they’ve been asking for more shots and we knew they were going to come,” Montour said of his increasing role as an offensive threat. “We’ve got key players on our team that are out, but we have all the confidence in the world with the guys we have coming up and down from San Diego (AHL). They are getting their experience, getting more minutes, and that’s nice.”
At 24, Montour finds himself the second oldest on the Ducks back line thanks to those injuries, and is stepping up to the task.
FYI — Nylander, a restricted free agent, must agree to terms on a new contract before Dec. 1 or sit out the entire 2018-19 season.
