Toronto Maple Leafs

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’.

Archive

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.

Archive

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.

Archive

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.

Archive

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!

Archive

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.

Archive

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.

Archive

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.”

Archive

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.

Archive

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.

Archive

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.

Archive

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+.

Archive

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.

Archive

While the buzz over talks with top forwards Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Matthew Knies unsurprisingly received a lot of the headlines, it’s defenceman Jake McCabe whose deal may now be the closest to getting done.

Contract talks certainly haven’t affected his game. If anything, McCabe has stepped up his play early this season as he’s moved over to his off side (on the right) and formed a strong pairing with newcomer Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

OEL-McCabe has unexpectedly been coach Craig Berube’s go-to duo in tough-match defensive situations. And they lead the Leafs in ice time on the back end.

No, this column isn’t meant to scare anyone that McCabe’s asking price is getting away from Toronto. But these first seven games of 2024-25 have certainly highlighted his value as a rugged, dependable second-pair D, to the point that it’s worth taking a closer look at what it will take to get this extension done.

Archive

That was ugly.

The Leafs looked exhausted in the second half of a back-to-back and the Blue Jackets jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first period. The team made defensive mistake after defensive mistake, and they were thoroughly outplayed against one of the worst teams in the league. Dennis Hildeby struggled, but the team in front of him was somehow even worse in a 6-2 loss.

The overall team grade is a clear F.

Archive

Let's goooooooooooo

Projected Line-up:

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

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

~~Joseph Woll~~ Hildebeast
Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Philippe Myers, Timothy Liljegren, David Kampf

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

Update: Woll out, Hildeby in via Friedge (h/t @ryan213)

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ first game against an Atlantic Division playoff threat Monday went as well as they could’ve hoped.

In a 5-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Maple Leafs got plenty of offence from their core, significant contributions from the biggest names added to their forward and defence groups (Max Pacioretty and Chris Tanev) plus a rock-solid performance from red-hot goaltender Anthony Stolarz.

Tampa Bay established some momentum after earning a 1-1 tie in the first period, but the Maple Leafs scored four goals in the second to run away with the game. Late penalty trouble allowed the Lightning to score their second goal and apply pressure in the final minutes, but they weren’t able to put the game in doubt.

An A-plus is best served for a truly dominant effort, but the Maple Leafs deserve an “A” for the decisive victory.

Archive

This kind of thing is going to happen with Chris Tanev a lot.

He will put his body in harm’s way. He will get hurt. And then, he will, probably, return to action as if nothing happened. Or at least that’s how things have gone in recent years and how the Toronto Maple Leafs can only hope things go for the foreseeable future.

On Saturday, Tanev knelt down to block Mika Zibanejad’s blast while killing a penalty. The shot appeared to hit him, with a thud, directly on the right knee. He fell to the ice instantly, hobbled to the dressing room, and then, in proper Tanev fashion, returned one shift into the next period.

. . .

This will be the question about Tanev for however long he plays for the Leafs: How much damage can his body take?

Archive

The Leafs started the game with pace and control. Most of the opening 10 minutes were spent in the Rangers’ end, and the Leafs were rolling shifts and quickly reloading if the puck was cleared. Despite the start, Alexis Lafrenière put the Rangers on the board first after a bad bounce off the official, an error in structure and a well-placed shot.

New York turned it up in the second as the game opened up. The two teams exchanged rush chances, and the Rangers doubled the lead on a delayed call thanks to Chris Kreider. Auston Matthews put the Leafs on the board in the third period and the team finally started to create havoc and chaos in front of Shesterkin.

The Leafs threw 18 shots at Shesterkin in the third and couldn’t put a second past him to tie the game. Kreider and Artemi Panarin scored with Stolarz out of the net and the team’s three-game winning streak ended.

The Leafs get a B on this one.

Archive