from Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star,

You walk around the Maple Leafs dressing room these days, and it’s as though the joint has been colonized by motivational speakers.

There are 10 games left in a season that’ll see the franchise miss the playoffs for the 10th time in the past 11 campaigns. And yet the buzzwords aren’t the usual “unacceptable” and “disappointing.” Players are instead speaking of how, thanks to a late-season influx of young and speedy prospects, they’re “energized” and “inspired.”

They’re also on a hot streak. Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames, as much as it fuelled the feel-good story machine of young men making good in their maiden months as NHLers, gave the Maple Leafs four wins in their past five games. These upbeat bottom dwellers have just two regulation losses in their past eight contests.

It’s a nice story, just like those are nice stats. But here’s one that’s not so nice to some eyes. Monday’s victory pulled the last-place Leafs within a single point of the Winnipeg Jets for 29th place.

Just to review the terms of the NHL’s latest tweak to its draft-lottery details: This year the dead-last finishers in the standings get a 20% chance at consensus first-overall pick Auston Matthews. The second-last-placers, meanwhile, get a 13.5% chance at No. 1. And it’s worth noting, too, that with 10 games remaining on their schedule the surging Leafs now only trail the 28th-place Oilers (they of the current Auston-winning odds of 11.5%) by just two points.

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