SAVE THE DATE: Friday, January 23rd.
No, I’m not inviting you to my wedding. That’s the day Mitch Marner will make his highly anticipated return to Toronto as a full-fledged member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Leafs and the NHL unveiled their full 2025-26 regular season slate on Wednesday, and ultimately, that was the date everyone here was waiting to find out.
Naturally, that’s where the conversation started on the latest summer edition of Leafs Morning Take as we offered up a full dissection of Toronto’s slate. Puck drop’s just 83 days away, but who’s counting?
Ultimately, Vegas’ visit in late January will be a big story. That said, we were both a little rattled by the schedule placement. In fact, both games the Leafs will play Marner’s Golden Knights, Vegas will be playing in the second half of a back-to-back. What does that mean? No morning skate for Vegas, so less interaction with Marner. The NHL had a chance to make something big of this game, but unfortunately, they buried it. A game of this magnitude should be appointment viewing —maybe just from a potential fan hostility standpoint.
After that, Chris Cuthbert, lead play by play commentator for Sportsnet/CBC/HNIC dropped by the show once again. We talked Marner’s return, NHL scheduling, & Toronto’s offseason thus far. Like most of our guests lately, Cuthbert thinks the roster’s incomplete, but not as far off as people think.
Then, we went more in depth on the schedule. We discussed some of the key dates (Ie. Returns for Marner, Holmberg, & Reaves). Additionally, we highlighted Scott Laughton’s return to Philadelphia and Brandon Carlo’s Boston homecoming. Of note, the Leafs will play eight of their first 10 games at Scotiabank Arena. Without question, that will give them a good chance to get out of the gates strong to start the season.
Lastly, on the heels of Columbus’ Yegor Chinakhov requesting a trade, we dissected the possibility of the Leafs acquiring the 24-year-old winger. For my money, he’s exactly the type of player that they should be after. Over and above that, it wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to acquire him. The Maccelli price tag seems relatable in this scenario.
We’re done for the week. We’ll be back on Monday at 11 AM ET for another summer edition of the pod. In addition to discussing the latest talking points, we’ll be dropping an interview with Ryan Reaves. For obvious reasons, you won’t want to miss that.
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