“It’s been a great off-season,” Rielly said. “I think with some early talks about my future, and then coming home from (representing Canada at the world championship) and just kind of refocusing, I’ve just been in a good place. My training has been really good, so I’m feeling really confident.

“I feel nervous. I feel excited, motivated. I just try not to take being a Leaf for granted. This is a great market to play in, a great place to live. Like I said, this is home now. To be a part of this team means a lot to me.”

Personally I would love to go early and line up to get an Auston Matthews or William Nylander bobblehead!

If Tavares loses his case and his bonuses become taxes. how much does this affect the leafs in the future along with other Canadian teams. If all player bonuses get taxed

From the story:

>As contract negotiations were heating up between the Maple Leafs and John Tavares in 2018, the rising star called Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas directly.
Without agents involved, Tavares made a final play: “If you really want me, why can’t we agree on $11 million?” the then 27-year-old asked.
Would an $11 million annual average salary over a seven-year deal make him a Maple Leaf? Dubas replied.
Simply, Tavares said: “Yes.”
If Tavares, now an alternate captain, ever expected he’d be detailing those behind-the-scenes negotiations in a 7th-floor courtroom in Federal Tax Court, the typically even-keeled star didn’t let it show on Tuesday.

There's more detail in Jennifer Pagliaro's story from federal tax court today. Read it here, via this gift link, and bypass the Star's paywall.

22nd Overall Pick: Tyler Biggs (TOR)

Projection: A nasty, hard-working scoring power forward who punishes defencemen on the forecheck, loves to battle along the boards and at the net-front, and is willing and eager to drop the gloves. Questionable upside but likely to be a third line difference-maker. Compared to Milan Lucic by THW and Colby Armstrong and Kyle Clifford by TSN.

Outcome: The Leafs traded up for this pick, and were burned for it. Players that fit the projection above are catnip for general managers and coaches, but Biggs wasn’t that. He could physically dominate at lower levels, but his skill and skating were just not close to good enough for the NHL; hell, they weren’t good enough for the AHL, where he scored at a 0.14 points per game pace in 119 games. 22nd overall picks don’t always pan out, but Biggs serves as a cautionary tale that taking a lack of skill to mean a “safe bottom six” projection often leaves you with a guy who just can’t keep up. He was a throw-in in the Phil Kessel trade and never played an NHL game.

25th Overall Pick: Stuart Percy (TOR)

Projection: An all-around two-way puck-moving defenceman with a stabilizing influence. Smart and solid in all elements of the game, but not exceptional in any sense. Likely a #4 or #5. Compared to Paul Martin by TSN, Dan Hamhuis and Dan Girardi by THW.

Outcome: Brian Burke’s second swing-and-a-miss of the first round, Percy mustered only 11 NHL games in the Leafs’ two tanking years. He showed some encouraging flashes as he developed in their system, playing a high-I.Q. puck-moving game, but dealt with concussions and got lost in the shuffle of the Leafs’ glut of young depth defencemen. There are still some fans who believe that Percy could have been a #4 defenceman if he had been given better opportunities and avoided injury.

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ pipeline received a massive boost with the addition of Gavin McKenna, providing them with a true franchise cornerstone. Tinus Luc Koblar brings a quality middle-of-the-lineup center to the mix. While the overall depth may not be the best in the league, having an elite talent like McKenna instantly elevates the organization’s prospect pool.

2025 ranking: 26

2026 NHL Draft grade: A+

Free to read here.

Was wondering how everyone would deploy the two powerplays if you were coach. These would be my lines. Agree? Disagree? Any changes you'd make?

Pp1

McKenna Matthews Nylander

Raddysh Rielly.

(The M'N'M line with some RnR time)

Pp2

Knies Tavares Cowen

OEL Andrae

Can someone please explain what pre-sale is going on today? I’m new to buying tickets and I’m just wondering because I’m going to one of my first leaf games this year and I wanna get tickets as cheap as possible. I see also a Presale Thursday and Monday and I just wanna know what is going on and how it works 😂

For anyone with the Fan Access app, we got an email giving access for home opener tickets (along with TFC and Argo ones to add)

Cheapest ticket I saw for it was just over $300+…just letting everyone know in case, cause tickets definitely went up this year.

5th Overall Pick: Morgan Rielly (TOR)

Projection: A dynamic #1 offensive defenceman with elite passing and skating. Weak defensively and not imposing physically. A top unit powerplay contributor. Compared to Kris Letang by TSN.

Outcome: Brian Burke notoriously thought Rielly was the best player in the draft, and while that didn’t turn out to be true he has comfortably out-performed everyone picked above him. Though he never became one of the league’s top defencemen, his offensive acumen has been impressive and at his peak he was one of the top 5-on-5 offensive drivers in the league. He’s paced above 50 points six times, hitting 72 in 2018-19, and the Leafs have gotten more than 21 minutes a night out of him in eleven of his twelve NHL seasons including some in which he was deployed as a true number one. The scouting report looks basically spot-on, since Rielly’s mobility and especially passing turned out to be major strengths and his defensive play was and is a catastrophic weakness; he ranks last among all defencemen in even strength defensive WAR since 2012.

RotoWire's Coach Pressure Index is out and Craig debuts at #3 in the league, right behind Hiller and Babcock. Their point is basically that an org willing to fire a Cup-winning coach isn't going to give a first-timer a long runway, especially coming off a Final loss.

Fair assessment for a rookie HC in this market, or too harsh this early?