Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs completed their third and hopefully last game without their captain with another power-play-style victory on home ice. Conor Timmins put the Leafs in the lead after a well-executed opening period. The special teams were next in the second period as William Nylander and Mitch Marner scored on the power play and penalty kill, respectively. Brendan Gallagher answered for the Montreal Canadiens with a man-advantage goal, but John Tavares restored the three-goal lead to close out the middle frame.

. . .

The Leafs did what they were supposed to against a team at the bottom of the division. Montreal tried to get them to bend, but they didn’t break and limited their mistakes. They also didn’t give up much in front of Woll at five-on-five save for Gallagher’s goal. Of all the positives from this one, the power play not being a flash in the pan stands out the most. With the players on this roster, the power play should strike fear into their opponents. With another two goals on four opportunities, it’s finally starting to look like it. The team gets an A-.

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After a horrendous start to the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs power play is officially red hot.

The Leafs scored three power-play goals against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, and they kept the momentum going with a pair of goals against another Original Six team in the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. Mitch Marner opened the scoring on the man advantage in the first, and John Tavares followed suit in the second to give his team a one-goal lead heading into the final frame.

The Leafs did not score or allow a five-on-five goal for the second consecutive game, and Tavares iced it with an empty net goal. This was a defensive battle with few scoring chances at either end, but the Leafs deserve a B-plus for picking up a 3-1 win without their captain.

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The Auston Matthews-less Maple Leafs are keeping their lineup intact as they look to build on a gratifying shutout victory over the Boston Bruins in tonight’s Hall-of-Fame game against the 6-5-1 Detroit Red Wings (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Matthew Knies — Max Domi — Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty — John Tavares — William Nylander
Nicholas Robertson — Pontus Holmberg — Bobby McMann
Steven Lorentz — David Kampf — Ryan Reaves

Morgan Rielly — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Conor Timmins

Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll

Scratched: Philippe Myers, Matt Benning

Injured: Auston Matthews (upper body), Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), Connor Dewar (upper body), Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Dakota Mermis (upper body)

The Maple Leafs placed Auston Matthews on injured reserve, the team announced Friday. But the move, retroactive to the last game Matthews played, isn’t as alarming as it may look.

It means only that Matthews will remain out at least through the weekend. He will miss Friday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings and Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens but will be eligible to play when the Leafs host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

The Leafs don’t view this move as a setback, but rather a path to creating a roster spot for Connor Dewar, previously on long-term injured reserve following offseason shoulder surgery, while Matthews continues to recover from his undisclosed ailment.

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Something wasn’t quite right with Auston Matthews two seasons ago.

From the earliest days of the 2022-23 campaign, Matthews didn’t look like his dominant self, not like the guy who had captured the first Hart Trophy by a Toronto Maple Leaf in almost 70 years with a remarkable 60-goal season.

Matthews later revealled to me that he had been playing through an injury to his hand, among other apparent bumps and bruises which had dogged him from the start of the season.

Things feel eerily similar with Matthews right now.

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After David Pastrňák — the same Boston Bruins winger who has a longstanding habit of hurting the Toronto Maple Leafs — came crashing into Anthony Stolarz on Tuesday night, there was a moment when thousands of fans inside Scotiabank Arena probably held their breath.

Stolarz was without a stick as Pastrňák tried to jam a shot past him. Pastrňák crashed into the Leafs goalie’s head, undoubtedly raising concerns about a position recently associated with injuries in Toronto.

But instead, the Leafs goalie stood up unscathed, making one of his 29 saves in a 4-0 win over the Bruins. It was Stolarz’s first shutout as a Leaf. The Leafs had previously gone winless in their last eight regular season games against the Bruins.

And as all 6-foot-6 of Stolarz emerged from a pile, he likely did so with the Leafs starter’s job firmly his for the first time this season.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have the top-end skill to turn relatively even games into lopsided wins, and that’s precisely what they demonstrated against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

Seattle outshot Toronto overall and at five-on-five, but the Maple Leafs’ best offensive threats made the type of plays even the best players on most teams are incapable of. From the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner–Matthew Knies tic-tac-toe in the first to the passes that set up two William Nylander goals, the Maple Leafs beat the Kraken with skill.

They also deserve credit for bottling up a Kraken offence coming off an eight-goal performance, conceding just 1.59 expected goals in a 4-1 win. The defensive performance was a significant change of pace after the team allowed 19 goals in its previous four games. That, along with the moments of offensive brilliance, earns the team an ‘A’.

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Joseph Woll will make his second start of the season as the 5-4-1 Maple Leafs look to build on an impressive road win over the Winnipeg Jets back on home ice against the 5-4-1 Seattle Kraken

Projected lineup:

Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty — John Tavares — William Nylander
Pontus Holmberg — Max Domi — Bobby McMann
Steven Lorentz — David Kampf — Nicholas Robertson

Morgan Rielly — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Conor Timmins

*Joseph Woll
Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Philippe Myers, Matt Benning, Ryan Reaves

Injured: Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), Connor Dewar (upper body), Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Dakota Mermis (upper body)

When it comes to new coaches, patience is key — and Craig Berube’s Toronto Maple Leafs are worthy of patience.

That’s an obviously difficult thing to preach in a market where the fan base’s patience has been endlessly tested. That’s been especially true during the last few years of the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner–William Nylander era. It’s to the point that many wins “don’t matter until April,” while many losses are the “same old Leafs” — a trope often exacerbated by a rampant media machine. After an uneven 5-4-1 start with flashes of excellence amidst several red flags, it can be hard not to say “Welp, same old Leafs.”

. . .

The lore around Berube joining the St. Louis Blues and taking a last-place team in January to the Stanley Cup is the stuff of legend. But legends can often be obscured by the passage of time, enough for many to forget that Berube’s Blues took some time to figure things out under their new coach. The “new coach bump” was far from immediate.

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The Timothy Liljegren era has finally come to an end in Toronto.

Seven years after the Maple Leafs selected Liljegren 17th in the 2017 NHL Draft, they dealt him to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday for a 2025 third-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick and defenseman Matt Benning, the team announced. The third-round pick will be whichever is better of picks San Jose previously acquired from the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche.

Liljegren’s was a tenure, ultimately, of potential not fully realized.

The Leafs waited and waited, and hoped and hoped, that Liljegren would become a pillar on the right side of their top four on defense.

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Timothy Liljegren sat hunched over at his dressing room stall, sweat dripping from his brow and eyes pointed toward the floor. He was one of the last Toronto Maple Leafs to leave the ice following practice on Wednesday.

. . .

“I’ve just tried to come in every day and stay ready,” the 25-year-old defenceman said. “Obviously it would be more fun playing, but that’s not the situation.”

The situation is one Liljegren isn’t happy with, and one that could soon come to a head: Fellow right-shot defenceman Jani Hakanpää will be eligible to come off LTIR as of the Leafs’ Nov. 2 game against the St. Louis Blues.

Which could leave only a few days for some sort of decision on Liljegren’s future with the Leafs to be made.

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Craig Berube is now 10 games into his coaching tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which means we’ve got a decent sample to analyze some of his deployment patterns — namely, who’s playing more and less compared to a season ago.

Away we go!

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Tonight was a warm return to the style of hockey the Toronto Maple Leafs need to play at five-on-five in a 6-4 victory against the Winnipeg Jets.

The first period was the response the Leafs needed. They were quick, physical and heavy right off the bat, outshooting the Jets 18-7 and winning their minutes in abundance at five-on-five, including a different but better-looking set of power play units. The new second line showed off results quickly with William Nylander and John Tavares putting the Leafs up 2-0 before the period was out.

Winnipeg used their power play to get back in the game with Kyle Connor scoring on two of their three second-period opportunities. Tavares answered back with another goal, making it 5-2 heading into the third.

. . .

The shots and chances were one thing, but the traffic in front of and around Hellebuyck was something else. The Leafs were the better team at five-on-five and stifled a lot of the Jets’ offence. If not for another parade to the penalty box, the Jets may not have gotten much for themselves offensively.

Even though special teams made it closer than we’d all like, this was a A- game for the Leafs.

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Amid a three-game losing streak, the Toronto Maple Leafs are making several changes to Monday’s lineup, as they take on the unbeaten Winnipeg Jets. TSN’s John Lu posted the practice lines, and it appears that head coach Craig Berube has seen enough to shake up his groups.

Projected Lineup:

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Pacioretty - Tavares - Nylander
McCann - Domi - Holmberg
Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves

Rielly - OEL
McCabe - Tanev
Benoit - Timmins

Stolarz
Woll

Scratched: Robertson

The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed defenceman Jake McCabe to a five-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4.51 million, the team announced Monday.

McCabe was due to become an unrestricted free agent after the current season.

The 31-year-old from Eau Claire, Wis., was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 27, 2023. His current four-year deal has an AAV of $4 million, but 50 per cent of that was retained by the Blackhawks in the trade, which provided the Leafs with cap flexibility at the time.

The Toronto Maple Leafs seemed to want to play only one line in Boston, and with good reason.

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies logged over 11 minutes together over the weekend and played well, winning almost 70 percent of the expected goals while contributing a goal. (Marner and Matthews also factored into the two other Leafs goals, as well as the deciding goal against, in a 4-3 overtime loss.)

The problem: Head coach Craig Berube had nowhere else to turn.

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The Leafs are now 4-4-1 on the season, an 82-point pace that is tied for the ninth-worst record in the NHL. They’re not really scoring (21st in goals per game) and only goaltender Anthony Stolarz is saving them in the goals-against department, as Toronto sits 26th in expected goals against.

Borrowing a page from our friend Shayna G., we’re going to fire up an early edition of the Concern-o-Meter and go through the most concerning issues in Toronto.

We’ll score them from 1 to 10, with 1 being “Nothing to see here” and 10 being “Time to light our hair (and jerseys) on fire.”

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The ghosts of Toronto Maple Leafs regular seasons past surrounded the team this week with the highs of Monday’s 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to the lows of Thursday’s 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. The Leafs needed a response game to point themselves back in the right direction, but they didn’t get one with Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins.

. . .

This wasn’t the response game the Leafs were looking for. Although the second period was their best, they still gave Boston opportunities to get back in the game. Three of their four goals were arguably gifts, including the game winner. The defensive errors continue to cost them, and their power play can’t help them. The Leafs get a C+ for this one.

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We’re still in October but Saturday’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins is a true marquee, with both teams looking to overcome a poor stretch of play. Auston Matthews and Brad Marchand are expected to deliver responses, both for their teams and on an individual level, as the Atlantic Division rivals have struggled throughout the week.

Projected Lineup:

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - William Nylander
Max Pacioretty - John Tavares - Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz - David Kampf - Ryan Reaves

Oliver Ekman - Larsson - Morgan Rielly
Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit - Philippe Myers

Anthony Stolarz (projected starter)
Joseph Woll

Mats Sundin played his final NHL game in the spring of 2009 and then kinda disappeared.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs went to Sweden last fall, Sundin, the team’s all-time leader in goals and points, re-emerged and he’s been everywhere lately promoting his new memoir, “Home and Away.”

The former captain of the Leafs spoke to The Athletic recently about everything from his relationship with the late Pat Quinn to the greatness of Alexander Mogilny to the no-trade drama that clouded the end of his career in Toronto.

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Craig Berube shouted repeatedly at his Toronto Maple Leafs power play units, with one thing in mind during Friday’s practice: The need for speed.

“Quick strides, quick plays,” the Leafs coach hollered in a drill designed to get players moving the puck in tight spaces.

“Move, move, move,” Berube shouted repeatedly between reps.

Yet for all the urgency demanded during practice, Berube and the Leafs are sticking with what they know with their struggling power play units.

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Another disappointing loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Leafs were expected to get out to a strong start in response to a disastrous performance against Columbus on Tuesday, but it was the St. Louis that took a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Oliver Ekman-Larsson briefly pulled his team within one, but Toronto struggled on special teams and surrendered far too many odd-man rushes.

The Leafs outshot the Blues, but they still lost 5-1 to a mediocre team that was missing its star centre. The overall team grade is a D+.

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Back at it. A wise elite goal-scorer once said that there's no time to sulk about the last game. Too true. Who's got time for sulking when there's this game to get stoked about today? Let's goooooooooo

Projected Lineup:

Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann — Max Domi — William Nylander
Pontus Holmberg — John Tavares — Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz — David Kampf — Ryan Reaves

Morgan Rielly — Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Jake McCabe
Simon Benoit — Conor Timmins

Joseph Woll
Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Philippe Myers, Timothy Liljegren

Injured: Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), Connor Dewar (upper body), Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Fraser Minten (lower body), Dakota Mermis (upper body), Max Pacioretty (lower body)

On most practice days during Sheldon Keefe’s five years as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jordan Bean, the team’s video coordinator and statistical analyst, would lug around a giant speaker at the team’s practice facility in Etobicoke.

Bean would then queue up tunes on an iPad connected to the speaker — everything from hip-hop to country to classic rock — that would blare during drills and pause when Keefe stopped to give instruction.

That’s gone now. There’s no more music at Leafs practice. It’s one of many ways practice has changed under Keefe’s replacement, Craig Berube.

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