The Toronto Maple Leafs are just hours away from the start of the 2026-27 season, and there is a lot to be excited for this season.
Whether it be the first overall draft pick, Gavin McKenna, making his NHL debut, or the debut of newly-acquired Kirill Marchenko, who was the key piece of the blocker buster that the organization pulled off yesterday. This season just feels different, and everyone in Leafs Nation is excited while counting the hours to puck drop.
So, to add to the excitement, here are the projected lineups for both clubs for tonight's game.
Maple Leafs projected lineup
With puck drop just hours away, there was some great news that came out about the Maple Leafs and Marchenko, who was given the green light in tonight's game. After a stressful day due to immigration. However, he is suiting up and will wear number 86 for the first time in Maple Leafs' history.
Forwards:
Jack Roslovic - Auston Matthews - Kirill Marchenko
Gavin McKenna - John Tavares - William Nylander
Easton Cowan - Nick Paul - Colton Sissons
Brandon Duhaime - Teddy Blueger - Zack MacEwen
Defence:
Morgan Rielly - Darren Raddysh
Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Troy Stecher
Goalies:
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Bo Groulx, Nick Blankenburg
Injured: Dakota Joshua (core), Max Domi (undisclosed)
Again, this is the debut night for numerous members of the Maple Leafs organization. This is one of the busiest offseasons any NHL team has ever seen. There are 10 new players in the lineup, which includes almost an entirely new bottom-six. Aside from Easton Cowan, who will slot in the third-line left-wing spot, none of the other players have played with the organization before.
The part of the lineup that is going to generate the most conversation and have the most eyeballs on them is the top six. With Marchenko and McKenna making their debuts, there are a lot of expectations. This team is supposed to be better than last season, and John Chayka has gone out of his way to make sure on paper they are. So, now, in Game 1 of the regular season, it's up to the players to go out there and show that he did make the right moves.
As for the blue line, there isn't much difference, other than another big off-season splash in Darren Raddysh. He and Morgan Rielly will be a pairing tonight, which has some fans worried about the defensive side of the game. However, there is the pairing of Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe that will help eat up most of those minutes.
Lastly, the goalies—this is also Sergei Bobrovsky's debut with the organization. He is easily the best goalie to play for the Maple Leafs since Ed Belfour in the early 2000s. So needless to say, the fanbase is expecting him to have a bounce-back season than last year with the Florida Panthers and prove that he can still be the goalie that Toronto signed him to be.
Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards:
Chris Kreider - Nick Suzuki - Cole Caufield
Juraj Slafkovsky - Alex Newhook - Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier - Phillip Danault - Kirby Dach
Zachary Bolduc - Jake Evans - Josh Anderson
Defence:
Mike Matheson - Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson - Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble - Arber Xhekaj
Goalies:
Jakub Dobes
Samuel Montembeault
Scratched: Florian Xhekaj, Adam Engstrom
Injured: Kaiden Guhle (adductor), Oliver Kapanen (lower body)
Puck drop is set for 7:00 tonight at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, in another edition of the best rivalry in all of hockey.
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