James Reimer is BACK in Toronto.
Well, sort of.
On Friday morning, the Leafs announced that they’re bringing in the 37-year-old goalie on a PTO. Ultimately, that move makes an abundance of sense, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Joseph Woll’s status moving forward. Naturally, that’s where the conversation started on the latest edition of Leafs Morning Take. It’s just a tryout —nothing more, nothing less. At the end of the day, we don’t think it tipped the hand – one way or another – on how the Leafs view the Woll timeline. We’ll see what happens, but it sure will be nostalgic to see Reimer back in the blue and white. Will he ask Auston Matthews for the No. 34?
After that, we got into Toronto’s impressive 7-2 beatdown of the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre last night. Once again, the discrepancy in rosters didn’t matter whatsoever. The Habs had no answer for the Leafs’ top line of Steven Lorentz, Scott Laughton, and Easton Cowan, who combined for eight points on the night. There are still three games to go, but once again, Cowan demonstrated the ability to play at the highest level and not look out of my place. If this continues, the 20-year-old could very well start the season with those two guys on the fourth line. The chemistry is growing by the game. Meantime, Dennis Hildeby wasn’t overly tested but he looked solid making 11 saves. Bobby McMann scored once again, which was great to see.
Then, we welcomed in the one and only Bruce Boudreau. The NHL head coach, former Leaf, and die-hard fan started by giving his thoughts on the crease and Reimer coming in. Additionally, he wasn’t shy on opinion when it came to what he would do with Cowan. Unless he’s playing top-9 minutes, Gabby thinks it would be a better idea to let him marinate and develop in the American Hockey League. On top of that, Boudreau shed some light on what to expect from Dakota Joshua – whom he coached in Vancouver – and where he views the Leafs in the Atlantic Division heading into the season.
To that point, we talked about the Aleksander Barkov injury news to wrap up the show. There are whispers going around the league that the Panthers’ captain could be done for the year. What a crippling blow. Florida will already be without Matthew Tkachuk for three months. Any way you slice it, the Leafs need to capitalize on this and seize the opportunity to claim stake of the division.
We’ll be back with another edition of Leafs Morning Take on Monday at 11 AM ET.
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