"When Tim Connolly signed a two-year contract with the Maple Leafs in July, he was supposed to be the setup man Phil Kessel had long lacked. So much for summer theorizing.

Clearly Kessel, with nine goals in eight games, has been doing just fine without Connolly — or any specific centre, for that matter. Less than 10 per cent of the way into the season, Kessel has already spent time playing to the right flank of Tyler Bozak, David Steckel, Matthew Lombardi and Nazem Kadri.

So perhaps there couldn't be a better moment than Thursday for Connolly to make his long-awaited Maple Leafs debut. The Leafs are in New York, after all. And while Leafs coach Ron Wilson, apparently miffed with Connolly's lengthy recovery from an upper-body injury, has questioned the player's residence of record — "Are days longer on Mars?" Wilson wondered a while back, after Connolly told reporters his injury status had essentially switched from day-to-day than week-to-week — the Empire State is the only earthly home Connolly has ever really known. "