Toronto Maple Leafs New Acquisition to Make Debut Tonight

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night by a score of 4-1.

The Toronto Maple Leafs came this close to a shut-out, and John Tavares made his much awaited return action in the team’s first game of the year.

Tonight, both teams will get back at it, the 19th game they’ve played against each other since last season started.  It’s actually pretty crazy when you think about it – but since last season was delayed until January,  this is the second training camp and pre-season we’ve had to go through this year.,

Of note: Jonathan Druin will be making his return to the Montreal Canadiens lineup after taking some time off last season for a mental health break.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens

The Leafs are dressing Mitch Marner tonight, but that’s about it.

Tonight’s game should be pretty interesting because of the lineup the Leafs are icing – if there is one cool thing about pre-season, it’s getting to see players you normally wouldn’t get to see.   Nikita Gusev will be the player I am most interested to see.  Gusev signed with the team on a PTO last week, but is one of the NHL’s most purely talented offensive players.

For whatever reason, he lost his ability to score last year after a rookie season where he scored like a quality first-liner.  If he makes the team, the Leafs will have added a very tantalizing player to the mix.  On one hand, it’s hard to get excited about a player no one else wanted, but on the other, it’s pretty weird that a guy can go from a first-liner to almost out of the league during one shortened season.

Unfortunately for Gusev, while the Leafs do have job openings, they also have about 46 candidates for each one. Gusev will need to beat out the likes of Bunting, Ritchie, Robertson and Ho-Sang just for a shot.

Kiril Semyonov is another player to watch because he too has enough talent that he should easily hold down an NHL roster spot.

Tonight will also mark our first opportunity to see Petr Mrazek in the blue and white. I liked this pick up for the Leafs over the summer, and I think he and Campbell have at least the possibility of giving the Leafs elite goaltending.

And really, that is what pre-season is all about: possibility.  The Toronto Maple Leafs could be the hungriest, most motivated team we’ve ever seen and spend the next six months making everyone (but me, I guess) eat their words.  I mean, they might not, but in September when the slate is clean, why worry yourself with vibes or negativity?