Maple Leafs Rumors & News

Bleacher Report "When casually taking a stroll down CapFriendly, an NHL analyst's version of taking a random walk down Wall Street, it's generally pretty easy to pick out each team's worst contract. Typically, that deal will belong to an aging member of the organization's core who once..." October 24

The Score "The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped their third straight game on Saturday in ugly fashion, losing 7-1 to the depleted Pittsburgh Penguins. "We've got to go back to the drawing board," defenseman Jake Muzzin said, per The Athletic's James..." October 24

SI "Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nick Ritchie was benched for the final eight minutes in the second period of the team's 5-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Friday. When he returned to the ice for the third period, he was replaced on the team's top unit and moved to the fourth..." October 23

Bleacher Report "When one speaks of NHL scorers, they're usually speaking about goal scorers. Each year, the leading goal scorer is honored with the Maurice Richard Trophy, named for the first player to reach 50 goals in a season and the 500-career-goal plateau. Washington Capitals winger..." October 23

The Athletic "It has been four years since the 2017 NHL Draft class walked up on the stage in Chicago. With four more seasons of play, there is a lot more evidence to prove what these players are. So now I take a look at how this class has changed with a new ranking of how I would order the players..." October 22

Sportsnet "During the shortened 2020-21 NHL season, a constant topic of conversation was the introduction of the Canadian division -- The Scotiabank North Division, if you wanna get fancy -- and just what it was going to be. There were many theories. Some thought it would make for contentious hockey, with..." October 22

The Score "Team Canada will officially have six goalies to choose from when it comes time to build its roster for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Carey Price, Jordan Binnington, Darcy Kuemper, Mackenzie Blackwood, Carter Hart, and Marc-Andre Fleury are the netminders..." October 21

ESPN "The Jack Eichel saga in Buffalo has been quite the soap opera. But nothing in that saga was as odious and contentious as when the Sabres announced they were stripping their franchise player of his captaincy. "From our perspective and my perspective, I feel the captain is the..." October 21

Pro Hockey Talk "The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced on Wednesday morning that Florida Panthers forward Joe Thornton has been fined $1,875.00 for a slashing incident that occurred during their 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. It happened late in the first period during a puck..." October 20

Bleacher Report "Selected ninth overall in the 2018 NHL draft, Vitali Kravtsov seemed destined for a bright future with the New York Rangers. Three years later, the 21-year-old right winger and the Blueshirts appear on the verge of parting ways. On Oct. 12, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman..." October 19

The Atlantic "You get an eight-year deal. And you get an eight-year deal. And you get an eight-year deal. And you and you and you! Long-term deals have been in vogue the last few months in the NHL, with Charlie McAvoy, Ryan Pulock, Nick Suzuki, Mika Zibanejad and Aleksander Barkov all doing max..." October 19

SI "One of Russia's greatest hockey players will now usher in his country's next generation. Ilya Kovalchuk was announced as GM of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation on Monday morning, tasked with overseeing the team that will take part in the 2022 Winter Olympics in..." October 18

Bleacher Report "Since 1978, the NHL has annually awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game." A number of great players, including Bob Gainey, Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Datsyuk, have won this award multiple times. Several..." October 17

Sportsnet "The Toronto Maple Leafs are apparently planning to loosen up on dress code restrictions for players on game day. Players are required to wear jackets, ties and dress pants to and from the arena, as outlined in the CBA, however, teams can ease up on the mandate if they..." October 17

Bleacher Report "Any NHL executive or player worth their weight in cliches will tell you their goal is to win the Stanley Cup. It doesn't matter how likely or unlikely it is for that to happen. That's especially true early in the season before the haves and have-nots settle into..." October 16

Sportsnet "These are the dangers of walking the salary cap tightrope. Alex Bishop, a University of Toronto student, will back up the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Jack Campbell in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the first Saturday night of the season. October 16

CBC "Canada's Stanley Cup hopes may rest on a few key players On Saturday, all seven Canadian-based NHL teams will be in action on the same day for the first time this season. To mark this momentous occasion, let's look at each team through the lens of an..." October 15

Yardbarker "No position or player can change a team more than a great goaltender (or a bad goaltender if that happens to be the case). So we are going to take a look at all 32 starting goalies in the NHL and rank them from Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tampa Bay to Carter Hutton in Arizona and..." October 15

The Athletic "Mattias Ekholm isn’t about to complain after signing a four-year extension which will pay him an average of $6.25 million a season right up to 36. But what he didn’t get in his new extension is what almost no Predators player ever gets: A no-trade or no-move..." October 15

Bleacher Report "The 2021-22 NHL season is underway, a little later than usual because of the COVID-19 pandemic's ongoing effects upon life in general. Its impact upon unvaccinated players and the league's schedule will remain a noteworthy storyline to follow in the coming weeks. That's..." October 15

Bleacher Report "The 2021-22 NHL season is underway, and there's already plenty of trade and free-agent speculation. A rumor mill that had slowed throughout the month of August is returning to life following several weeks of training camp and preseason play through September into early..." October 14

Yardbarker "Despite being stuck in a Stanley Cup drought of over half a century, the Toronto Maple Leafs are No. 1 among all NHL franchises in one category. According to data compiled by Sportico, the Maple Leafs are worth an NHL-high $2 billion. According to ESPN's Emily Kaplan, each of the..." October 14

ESPN "It's a Wednesday in August, at the height of hockey's cottage season -- when the NHL's general managers are sprawled across lake adjacent homes, mostly in Canada, Minnesota or Massachusetts, and league business enters snooze mode. Auston Matthews is at his off-season base too, but..." October 13

Bleacher Report "DraftKings announced Wednesday that it reached an agreement to become the official sports betting, daily fantasy sports and iGaming partner of the NHL as well as the exclusive NHL sportsbook and DFS provider for Turner Sports. Regarding the working relationship between..." October 13

ESPN "NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has only four unvaccinated players as it opens up the 2021-22 season. Bettman was in attendance for the regular-season opener between the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh..." October 12

The Athletic "The NHL set escrow on player contracts at 17.2 percent for the 2021-22 season, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. That's in line with projections for this season, which were estimated between 14-18 percent. The league set escrow, the amount that the league pulls back..." October 12

The Score "1. Lightning almost three-peat, lose to Avalanche in Cup Final The Tampa Bay Lightning, along with the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, are a popular Stanley Cup pick. Frankly, the two-time defending champions are probably the most talented team in the..." October 12

USA Today "For two seasons, the NHL endured everything from pauses to restarts to bubbles while navigating the coronavirus pandemic. As the 2021-22 season approached and the league and players' association once again negotiated player safety protocols, all parties involved saw vaccines..." October 12

The Athletic "NHL officiating is in the crosshairs every year, but the vitriol and unpleasantness soared to new heights during last year’s playoffs. And if one single moment capsulized the collective frustration, it occurred in the Stanley Cup semifinals when Islanders defenceman Scott Mayfield..." October 12

The Athletic "Turner Sports has an easy-to-digest goal when it comes to its inaugural season of broadcasting the National Hockey League: They want to be at the intersection of hockey and culture. Can they achieve it? Well, that is the challenge — and a significant one. October 12

The Athletic "For starters, the theme song is back. When it comes to ESPN and the NHL, one of the most pressing questions, both internally and externally, centered around whether the ESPN NHL theme would be making a return as the network re-embarks on its journey as the national TV partner for the..." October 12

Habs Eyes On The Prize "The Montreal Canadiens have made a second waiver claim of the 2021 pre-season, picking up Adam Brooks from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brooks, 25, is 5’10, 185, and plays centre. He was a standout in the Western Hockey League with the Regina Pats. He was a fourth-round pick (92nd..." October 11

Bleacher Report "And just like that, the 2021-22 NHL season is upon us. Over the past few months, we've watched contenders try to bolster their Stanley Cup aspirations or scramble to keep their band together. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost their entire third line, for example. We've..." October 10

The Athletic "We made it through preseason and are on the cusp of a full 82-game NHL season for 2021-22. There is so much to look forward to in the next 1,312 games. The Seattle Kraken are now a real team — although we will miss the mock expansion drafts. Minnesota will..." October 10

The Score "Behold, your comprehensive list of the statuses of all 32 NHL head coaches, broken down into tiers, as we inch toward the 2021-22 campaign.   Newcomers Here, we have all first-year coaches and ones who took over at some point last..." October 09

Bleacher Report "The primary role of NHL defensemen is to prevent their opponents from scoring. There are those, however, who are as renowned for their offensive skills as their defensive ones. Some, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning's Victor Hedman, play a terrific two-way game, contributing to..." October 09

The Score "The Ontario government has announced its decision to loosen capacity limits in certain indoor and outdoor settings where proof of vaccination is required, allowing professional sports teams in the province to hold 100% capacity at their home games this season. The policy..." October 08

Bleacher Report "It feels like the Tampa Bay Lightning won their second consecutive Stanley Cup yesterday, but the start of the 2021-22 NHL season is already upon us like a ferocious forecheck from Ryan O'Reilly. Three months ago, the offseason appeared to be shaping up as one of the more eventful in recent..." October 08

The Athletic "Hey everyone, it’s your local Toronto analytics writer hilariously placing the team exactly where you expected: too high. The Maple Leafs! Second place! Can’t make this stuff up, folks: Dom’s Toronto bias strikes again. I get it. I am obviously open about my..." October 08

The Athletic "The reverse retro program may be getting a reboot. Multiple sources have told The Athletic that the alternate jersey program could be set to return during the 2022-23 season, which would be a welcome sight for many teams and executives who spoke on the matter. October 08

TSN "Latvia added San Jose Sharks winger Rudolfs Balcers, Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Kristians Rubins to their 2022 Olympic roster on Friday. Girgensons will be playing in his second Olympics after representing Switzerland at Sochi..." October 08

The Athletic "It is never too early to talk about a trade in the NHL. After all, last season’s blockbuster trade that sent Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois going to the Winnipeg Jets happened just 10 days into the..." October 07

Sportsnet "Auston Matthews and John Tavares sprinted in unison to the red line inside Gravenhurst’s cozy Centennial Centre rink. Shoulder to shoulder, they cut a sharp U-turn at centre, charged to the net, and fought for position as a puck was tossed to the slot. The Toronto..." October 07

Sportsnet "Hockey has a sleep balance problem, and it’s one without an easy fix. When I worked with the Toronto Marlies, the team travelled on two busses, one for just the players and one for the staff. This arrangement was created specifically so every player could have two seats they..." October 07

ESPN "As the 2021-22 NHL season arrives, so does the pressure of expectations. Every player, coach and general manager feels the heat to some degree. But some feel its intensity like a neglected hamburger under a fast food restaurant lamp, sizzling and spoiling and preparing to be tossed..." October 07

Bleacher Nation "Tell me Stan Bowman is biased without telling me Stan Bowman is biased. Ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, each team participating in the Men’s Hockey tournament was asked to select three preliminary players to their rosters ahead of named their expanded roster invite..." October 07

TSN "It appears there could be some movement on the Jack Eicheltrade front. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that ongoing discussions and additional access to Eichel’s medical file has helped teams with trade interest clearly see his situation. He adds that both the..." October 06

The Athletic "There are no hard and fast rules about extending a player during the NHL season. Some pending UFAs prefer to halt talks once the season is officially underway. Others don’t care and keep the dialogue going. But generally speaking, it is rare for the higher-end pending UFAs not..." October 06

TSN "San Jose Sharks centre Tomas Hertl and Arizona Coyotes veteran Phil Kessel are two names to watch on the trade market this season, TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger said Tuesday. Both players are pending unrestricted free agents, and while the Sharks would have liked..." October 06

ESPN "Over the last three decades, the NHL's expansion into the American Sun Belt has served to diversify the league's geography and fan profile. Markets with high Latino populations such as Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami have reaped the benefits. Now, the league is poised to..." October 06