After having three days off the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to welcome back Joel Edmundson and the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night in the first of the two games they play against each other this season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will likely see John Tavares back in the line-up who missed this past Saturday night's game due to an illness that may keep William Nylander out of the game. Nylander who is in year one of an eight-year deal has not missed a regular season game since the 2021-22 season missed practice on Tuesday. Mark Masters reported Wednesday morning that coach Craig Berube stated that the Calgarian-Swede will be a game time decision.
It also looks like former first round pick Timothy Liljegren will make his season debut as he skated on the third pairing with Simon Benoit during Tuesday mornings practice.
Liljegren who signed a two-year extension worth $6 million this past summer seems to have been a casualty of the Leafs' GM's obsession with size, although they could be sitting him just to try and get him going after a bit of a rough camp.
Connor Timmins is Odd Man Out
Connor Timmins looks to be the odd man out after the 26-year old defenseman got into action in each of the first three games averaging over 15-minutes a night recording one assist.
Anthony Stolarz who was presumed to be the 1B goalie this season, is picking up steam for jumping ahead of Joseph Woll when he returns as the starting goalie will also get the net against the Kings. Stolarz has surrendered just three goals on 50 shots over two starts this season after leading the league last season in both save percentage and goals against average.
Maple Leafs fans will see Edmundson make his return to Toronto after being acquired at the trade deadline last year for a third and fifth round pick. He was in no way effective as a Leaf and he signed one of the NHL's worst contracts when he signed a four-year deal with the Kings for nearly $4 Million per season. Due to the early season injury to Drew Doughty, Edmundson has taken on a lot of the weight averaging more than 21-minutes a night. This is bad news for LA as Edmundson has a 43% expected goals rating to kick off the season. (naturalstattrick.com).
The Maple Leafs will also see former 2021 trade deadline acquisition Dave Rittich as the starting goalie for the Kings. Big Save Dave will make his season debut after posting a 2.15 GAA and .921 save percentage last year.
The two teams split their season series last year, with the Kings taken the first game 4-1 and Martin Jones recording a shutout this past January in a 3-0 victory in the second contest.
The game is on at 7:30 pm EST and be seen on Sportsnet.