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TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs are close to signing teenage sensation Luke Schenn to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Schenn, 18, would have to sign a contract in order to start the season with the Leafs in their season opener against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. The possibility of the youngster from Saskatoon beginning the season with the Leafs is about 60-40 in favour of him staying in Toronto after another solid effort against the skilled Wings on Saturday evening.
"We hope to get the contract done in the next two days," Leafs general manager Cliff Fletcher said.
The only part of the deal that Schenn and the Leafs have yet to agree on is smoothing out what is called B-bonuses, which are windfalls for winning major trophies and being named to all-star teams.
Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph, right, reacts as the Detroit Red Wings celebrate Niklas Kronwall's goal during the second period Saturday. The Leafs lost 4-3. (J.P. Moczulski/CP)
Schenn's base salary is expected to the maximum $875,000 (all currency U.S.) and his bonuses cannot exceed the maximum $8.55-million over the three years.
All eyes were on Schenn and how well he would defend against the defending Stanley Cup champion Wings, who beat Toronto 4-3 at the Air Canada Centre a day after downing the Leafs 5-3 at Joe Louis Arena.
The Wings were missing 10 regulars from their lineup. Schenn, once again, was paired with veteran Tomas Kaberle and played 25 shifts for 19 minutes and 15 seconds.
"I've enjoyed playing with him and I like the way he's playing," Kaberle said. "Management has a tough decision to make because we have a strong group of defencemen."
The kid was on the ice for a pair of Daniel Cleary goals, but could not be faulted for the first goal, in which Toronto forward Nik Antropov could not catch up to Cleary on the backcheck.
On the second goal, he failed to cut off Ville Leino's backdoor pass to Cleary.
Schenn killed penalties and held his ground with a solid bodycheck along the boards early in the first period against Detroit's Darren Helm.
The Wings and Leafs were tied 1-1 after the first period, but Detroit enjoyed a 3-1 advantage in the second period after Toronto failed to put a shot on Wings goalie Chris Osgood in the middle 20 minutes.
"For some reason we stopped working in the second period," Toronto's Jason Blake said. "It doesn't matter which team you are playing you can't afford to do that."
Blake scored and Mikhail Grabovski added his fourth of the exhibition schedule to tie the game early in the third period. But then Newfoundland's own Cleary put Detroit up for good with the game-winner.
Grabovski continues to be one of the bright lights for the Leafs in training camp.
"Something happens every time he's on the ice," Leafs coach Ron Wilson said.
Backup goalie Curtis Joseph was back in goal for Toronto after yielding six goals on 12 against the St. Louis Blues last Wednesday. The veteran felt he was more "competitive" in this game, but still allowed four goals on 22 shots for an abysmal save percentage of .706.
"For us to be successful, our goalies have to be on their games and they haven't been," Wilson said. "We're confident that they will find their games."
The Leafs preseason finale is at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Notes: Ian White played forward alongside centre Matt Stajan and left wing Alex Steen … Mike Van Ryn and Tomas Kaberle appeared comfortable as a pair on the power play for the Leafs … Antropov played his best preseason game, setting up linemate Blake for a pair of goals.
