The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to get their leading scorer back in the lineup for their match against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, before heading out on a road swing west of the Mississippi next week. William Nylander skated prior to Saturday’s morning skate at Scotiabank Arena and took part in line rushes with center John Tavares and winger Matias Maccelli, as the addition of Nylander caused a shakeup of three of the Leafs four forward lines.
Matthew Knies, who spent most of Nylander’s six-game absence with Tavares, resumed his spot on the left side of team captain Auston Matthews and winger Max Domi, while Bobby McMann – who had enjoyed some success playing with Matthews – was shifted down to the fourth line with Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz. The only unit that was left untouched was the third line of Nick Robertson, Nicolas Roy and rookie Easton Cowan.
“I know (there were) tough decisions, I tweaked (the lines) a little bit, (and) I kept that Roy line together,” Berube said. “I just really like what they’ve been doing lately. That’s just the way it goes when you got people out, and they come back, you got to make some lineup changes.”
On defense, Jake McCabe skated with Nylander and also took the morning skate partnered with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but Berube was less definitive of him playing against Vancouver. The Leafs have a daunting schedule next week, with back-to-back games against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche and Utah Mammoth on Monday and Tuesday, their first meeting with ex-Leaf Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, before finishing against the Winnipeg Jets next Saturday.
Joseph Woll was in the starter’s net for the Leafs, while Thatcher Demko (8-9-1, 2.74 GAA, .902 save %) is expected to go for Vancouver. Toronto enters Saturday three points behind Washington and two points behind Pittsburgh in the race for the two Eastern Conference wildcard spots, but is seven points behind Montreal and Detroit and six points behind Tampa Bay for the top three spots in the Atlantic. It is an absolute imperative that the Leafs beat the Canucks, who have the league’s worst record at 16-22-5, to keep pace in the East.
Leafs Dodged A Bullet By Not Getting Brayden Schenn
The development of Cowan through the first half of the season has made the youngster someone that Leafs GM Brad Treliving cannot trade. The promising 20-year-old is gradually beginning to feel more comfortable with the NHL game, and has begun to have more of an impact playing with Roy and Robertson, but according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Friday’s 32 Thoughts podcast, the Leafs were considering trading their top prospect to the St. Louis Blues, along with 2024 top pick Ben Danford, and something else for center Brayden Schenn, who played for Berube on the Blues 2019 Stanley Cup winning squad.
According to Friedman, Schenn was willing to waive his no-trade clause to play in Toronto if the Leafs were able to reacquire his brother Luke in a trade. The elder Schenn – the Leafs 2008 first round pick, was dealt by Nashville to Pittsburgh in a deal involving former Leaf Michael Bunting, and then flipped to Winnipeg for a second and fourth round pick. The Leafs did not have the same draft capital as the Jets to make the deal for Schenn with Pittsburgh, and would have stripped bare their remaining prospects by making the deal for St. Louis.
Whether by luck or happenstance, the Leafs dodged a bullet by not trading with the Blues, as the 34-year-old is beginning to show his age, with just 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 45 games, and may have become an albatross for Toronto with another two years left with a $6.5 million AAV. Had the Leafs made the Schenn trades, it is possible that they would not have re-signed Tavares, but it also means that they would not have dealt Brandon Carlo and Laughton and not traded their 2026 and 2027 first round picks.
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