Maple Leafs Rumors & News

Bleacher Report "With NHL preseason play well underway, the 2022-23 regular season is fast approaching. It begins in Europe when the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks stage two games in Prague on Oct. 7 and 8. The remainder of the schedule opens Oct. 11. Media trade gossip is growing..." October 01

The Hockey Writers "Entering the NHL as a rookie in 2020-21 as a member of the Dallas Stars, Jason Robertson didn’t generate a lot of hype early on. Having been passed through the entire first round of the 2017 Draft, it didn’t seem as though anyone viewed him as a player with the potential..." October 01

ESPN "In hockey, it's hard to go from the outhouse to the penthouse, because playoff contenders refuse to move out. Of the 16 teams that made the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, 12 of them were in the midst of multiyear postseason appearance streaks. If you include the COVID-19 bubble..." October 01

The Athletic "In 2021-22, Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson increased his career high in goals from eight to 38 and his career high in points from 14 to 68. St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas scored at better than a point-per-game pace, with 77 points in 72 games..." October 01

The Score "Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe raised eyebrows when he said he's considering experimenting with Mitch Marner as a defenseman, but the star winger seems up for the challenge. "I'm open to all kinds of opportunities. Whatever (Keefe) is..." October 01

The Leafs Nation "With training camps in full swing now, it’s unsurprising that hockey headlines are starting to come out of their lull. Reporters are back on the beat, sources are getting tapped again, and with that are a few news stories with actual substance to them. For the Leafs, in the last..." September 29

The Score "It's always satisfying to see someone's hard work pay off. The guys on this list are approaching significant markers that are seasons upon seasons in the making. Most players act nonchalant and indifferent when asked about individual achievements, but we still think their..." September 29

The Hockey Writers "Most betting sites have the Toronto Maple Leafs as the most favoured Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup in 2022-23 and the second or third most likely in the NHL (from ‘NHL Stanley Cup Odds: 2022-23 Winner Futures Betting’, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/21/22). Considering..." September 29

Clutch Points "The Toronto Maple Leafs are already shorthanded on defense as the preseason gets underway, leaving Sheldon Keefe searching for answers. Among the moves he’s mulling experimenting with is potentially playing Mitch Marner on defense. According to Luke Fox, Toronto is experimenting with..." September 29

Bleacher Report "Time to see if our B/R NHL Staff has true powers of prognostication. After predicting the winners of every division for the upcoming season, we're back at it. In this roundtable, our experts go in deep and give us their predictions for the 2022-23 playoff..." September 29

ESPN "Expansion of the Stanley Cup playoffs is my hill to die on. My last breaths will be spent mouthing the words "play ... in ... round." I've explained my philosophy and procedures before in this column, but to reiterate: There are now 32 teams in the NHL. In the pre-Gary..." September 29

Pension Plan Puppets "The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed their final RFA of the summer, defender Rasmus Sandin, to a two-year contract worth $1.4 million AAV. This is the same contract fellow young defenseman Timothy Liljegren signed in the spring. We got there eventually. " September 29

Bleacher Report "The phrase “hot take,” represents a few things these days. To me, it’s still best defined as something that could happen, but isn’t particularly likely to happen. For reference, if you were to predict any team that landed in the 2021-22 regular season top five..." September 28

The Athletic "There’s another prominent member of the Maple Leafs who can extend his contract next summer: William Nylander. It’s wild to think that nearly four years have passed since Nylander signed his six-year contract on the last possible day back in Dec...." September 28

The Score "Scoring was up across the NHL last season, as eight players broke the 100-point barrier for the first time since 1995-96. From an entertainment standpoint, let's hope the offensive surge wasn't an outlier and that we get more of the same from the league's biggest stars starting in..." September 28

The Hockey Writers "The Toronto Maple Leafs are a couple of days into the preseason now, as we’re slowly inching towards the season opener on Oct. 12 against the Montreal Canadiens. While most people probably have a rough idea of what the team will look like after all the cuts are made, as always, there are..." September 28

Marker Zone "NHL Insider Chris Johnston announced today that the 2023 Trade Deadline will be on Friday, March 3 at 3:00pm eastern. The league switching the weekday from Monday to Friday is the only real noteworthy change; the past four deadlines have fallen on a Monday. " September 28

CBS Sports "The game of hockey, maybe more than any other, is subject to a lot of random variation. The puck bounces a certain player's way, and he has a career year. A player gets poor puck luck, and people are wondering what happened to him. The bad news for players who benefit from that..." September 28

The Athletic "Last fall, the Maple Leafs started their regular season without Auston Matthews. This fall, they’ll be without John Tavares. Moments after he learned the news himself following the end of Tuesday’s on-ice sessions at training camp, Leafs coach Sheldon..." September 28

The Score "The NHL is preparing for a significant salary cap increase over the next three seasons, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and Rory Boylen. Teams reportedly received projections of the approximate salary cap through 2025-26. These values aren't guarantees but..." September 27

Daily Faceoff "Mark Giordano is going to put up at least 50 points this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s going to be a major cog at even strength and chip in on the power play. And fans should be lining up daily outside the Ford Performance Centre to thank Giordano after practice. Why?..." September 27

The Athletic "Zach Aston-Reese is living with his dog, Carl, in a Toronto hotel at the moment. That’s life for a player on a professional tryout at training camp. There’s a pretty good chance that Aston-Reese may soon be able to lock down more permanent digs in the..." September 27

CBS Sports "The Toronto Maple Leafs will without captain John Tavares to start the 2022-23 season. Head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that Tavares had suffered an oblique injury in the preseason and will miss three weeks. In his Tuesday press conference, Keefe said that..." September 27

The Score "Defending against the Connor McDavids, Auston Matthews, and Nathan MacKinnons of the world isn't easy, but hey, someone has to do it. It probably gets a little easier if you have one of these six pairs on your blue line, though. From already established duos to new..." September 26

Bleacher Report "On Sept. 16, The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported the NHL's annual trade deadline will be held on March 3. In the weeks leading up to that date, playoff-bound teams will attempt to boost their rosters while non-contenders will attempt to move unrestricted free agents they..." September 24

The Athletic "Training camps are open, and rosters for the 2022-23 season are being determined around the NHL. But we all know the rosters that open the regular season won’t be the same as the ones that head into the playoffs in April. Whether it’s Patrick Kane, John..." September 24

The Score "The NHL produced no shortage of action this past offseason. While there are many angles to break down and events to analyze, we're going to focus on the moves that left us asking one simple question: "Why?"   Flyers confuse..." September 24

Daily Faceoff "I recently listed my top five candidates for the Calder Trophy as well as some honorable mentions. Now, we’re going to take a closer look at one prospect to watch from each of the 32 NHL clubs, focusing on players who could make an impact in the NHL this coming..." September 24

The Athletic "Earlier this week, P.K. Subban, the player picked 18 spots before Wayne Simmonds in the 2007 draft, retired. So did Simmonds’ long-time Eastern Conference foe Zdeno Chara. Months earlier, Jason Spezza announced that he too would retire and join the Leafs front office..." September 24

The Hockey Writers "Although it’s no secret that the window to win for the Toronto Maple Leafs is rapidly closing, even their biggest skeptics have to admit that Toronto’s is a lineup capable of so much more than they’ve accomplished of late. Being led by the likes of Auston Matthews,..." September 24

ESPN "Everything you're about to read is going to happen in the NHL this season. OK, most of it will. Some of it? At the very least, the thing about the Leafs. Probably. In my first column of the 2022-23 NHL season, I've made 32 bold predictions, one for each NHL team...." September 23

The Score "Nathan MacKinnon had just settled into his chair on the concourse at Lifeguard Arena in Henderson, Nevada, when someone asked if he, as per tradition, spent the offseason training alongside Sidney Crosby. "Yeah, he worked out with me a little bit," MacKinnon said, fresh off..." September 23

Bleacher Report "Being a defenseman in the current NHL means being able to drive the offense as much as it means to stop the opposing team. Gone are the days where being a super-sized defender that’s as mobile as a cruise liner and can block out the sun. If a defenseman is built like that these days,..." September 23

The Hockey Writers "As the Toronto Maple Leafs opened up their training camp for the 2022-23 season, the biggest takeaway from opening day is that general manager Kyle Dubas is on the hot seat as this is a do or die season. If this season doesn’t go as planned, he won’t be extended for a new..." September 23

The Athletic "It has been nearly 40 years since a hockey season arrived without Barry Trotz coaching somewhere. Think about that. The 60-year-old started his coaching career in 1984 and never looked back. Until now. This offseason, Trotz decided, the time had finally come for a..." September 23

Bleacher Report "All 32 NHL teams will try to start fast when the puck drops in October on the 2022-23 regular season. A winning record within the opening weeks can set the right tone for the remainder of the season. Those early points could also make the difference in the race for a playoff berth down the..." September 22

The Hockey Writers "Happy new year, Leafs Nation. The Toronto Maple Leafs opened up the 2022-23 season this week as media day is in the books and the team hits the ice for the opening of on-ice training camp. While this is expected to be a massive season for the hockey club, it’s not getting off on the right..." September 22

The Score "Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews won't let contract discussions turn into a distraction this coming season. "I want to be clear about the contract stuff. I'm going to touch on it today, and that's it," the reigning MVP said Wednesday..." September 21

ESPN "Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said he does not have a contract beyond the 2022-23 NHL season but doesn't see that becoming a distraction for himself or the team. "I'm more than happy to go through the year and be evaluated on the year and then have..." September 21

Bleacher Report "NHL training camps for the 2022-23 season open for the 32 teams on Sept. 21 and 22. Their respective general managers and coaches will be evaluating their rosters looking for areas of strength and weakness as they prepare for the start of the regular season in..." September 21

Daily Faceoff "Ranking the NHL’s goalie tandems is tricky. It’s about the overall strength of the tandem, sizing up that team’s opportunity to win every night, no matter who is in the crease those 20 or 30 other nights per season while the starter rests. For this exercise, we..." September 21

The Athletic "On Tuesday, we dusted off the offseason bizarro-meter and gave it a good workout going through the Western Conference. We looked at some big swings in Calgary, an international drama involving Minnesota, a deposed captain in Winnipeg, and lots more. It got weird, which is kind of..." September 21

ESPN "It doesn't seem that long ago that the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, and it's been even more recent that Juraj Slafkovsky was drafted first overall and a wild offseason brought Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Claude Giroux to the Ottawa Senators, and Matthew..." September 21

The Score "The Toronto Maple Leafs are beginning training camp Wednesday without two important depth pieces. General manager Kyle Dubas said blue-liner Timothy Liljegren will miss at least six weeks following hernia surgery, per Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun...." September 21

Bleacher Report "If Zdeno Chára, Keith Yandle and P.K. Subban all retiring Tuesday morning sent you into an existential crisis, you’re not alone. The three defensemen, each leaving behind a unique legacy, logged 53 seasons and 3,977 total NHL games combined. That's a lot of memories..." September 21

ESPN "Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon signed the richest contract for the NHL salary cap era on Tuesday, agreeing to an eight-year contract extension worth $100.8 million. That's an average annual value of $12.6 million for the 27-year-old center, higher than..." September 20

Daily Faceoff "It’s almost tiring to just put yourself in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ skates. Could you find the energy to have the same conversation before the start of training camp, six years in a row? Field questions on what you learned about your first-round exit? Find the silver..." September 20

The Athletic "NHL training camps officially opened this past weekend, with rookie tournaments taking place across the NHL landscape. Today we discuss who stood out at three of the main events: the tournament in Buffalo featuring Boston, Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa and Pittsburgh; the..." September 20

Bleacher Report "The first proper NHL offseason in years is wrapping up, and the 2022-23 season is finally around the corner. It’s hard to beat the mood this time of year, and the possibilities seem endless as all your favorite players trickle back into town and new faces emerge. Could..." September 20

Daily Faceoff "The Toronto Maple Leafs are the ninth NHL team to unveil a sponsorship patch on their jersey for the 2022-23 season. The advertisement, placed in the top right corner of the Leafs’ sweaters: ‘Milk.’ The cursive logo represents the Dairy Farmers of..." September 20