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Toronto Maple Leafs: Mitch Marner Game Time Decision as Season Opens

By Ben Dackiw|
MONTREAL, QC - MAY 24: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Three of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 24, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MAY 24: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Three of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 24, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year once again. Goodbye North Division. Goodbye arenas with no fans. Hello 2021.  After another long Summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs are starting another season with very familiar dark clouds hanging over the franchise.

No cups since 1967 and no playoff series wins since 2004. One and done in the first round/play-in round five years straight. All of this seems very new with a roster looking largely similar minus the losses of longtime Toronto Maple Leafs Zach Hyman and Frederik Anderson. Other than those two, yes the core remains the same.

Auston Matthews will miss some time to start this season due to wrist surgery but things are looking good for him moving forward as he has been participating in practice.

Mitch Marner is a gametime decision due to an injury sustained on practice on Tuesday but appears to be ready to go for tonight.

Toronto Maple Leafs Season Opener

Thankfully, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have their Captain John Tavares for tonight, which is something I’m sure we’re all glad to see after his scary injury in game 1 against the Habs last season.

I could go into detail about this roster, but I can’t say anything about this roster that hasn’t already been said. This is a good roster. The forwards are stacked as always, and the D corp is solid when healthy. The Jack Campbell-Petr Mrazek experiment should be interesting to see unfold and we will see if Campbell can continue his performance from his career year last season.

Something the Leafs haven’t had in quite a long time will be back tonight. 19,000 fans will be at the ScotiaBank Arena. Will this have any impact on the game? I guess we’ll have to find out.

A familiar foe awaits the Leafs tonight in the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs are looking different this year after losing Phillip Denault, Kasperi Kotkaniemi, Corey Perry and Tomas Tatar. Shea Weber has unfortunately likely played his final game in the NHL due to injury. A very different team awaits the Leafs than the one that beat them back in May.

Leafs fans, I know that this team has disappointed us year in and year out. The losses just keep seem to get worse each year with the Habs making it to a Stanley Cup Final before the Leafs could even get out of the first round, but you know what? That doesn’t matter now.

This roster has some of the most talented players to ever pull on the Toronto Maple Leafs sweater and boasts one of the greatest Leafs of all time. This regular season, be proud of the games the Leafs win. Be proud of the great plays that they make. Be proud of the fights that they win. Most of all, be proud of how far this team has come.

Tonight begins an 82 game long marathon to the finish. My friends and I here at Editor In Leaf will be with you every step of the way.

Go Leafs Go.

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