The Toronto Maple Leafs have used nine different defensemen this season because of injuries to Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev, and some subpar play from bottom pairing blueliners Simon Benoit, Philippe Myers, and Dakota Mermis. With Mermis being placed on injured reserve on Wednesday and indications that he will be out long-term, Toronto recalled defenseman Henry Thrun from the Toronto Marlies, who is expected to be #10 and debut against his former club, the San Jose Sharks, at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
Based on experience (119 games over three seasons with San Jose before being acquired from the Sharks for Ryan Reaves in July) and a solid performance in the preseason, it was thought that Thrun would be a shoo-in to be a depth player on the Leafs roster, but the 24-year-old cleared waivers and has played well in 19 AHL games with the Marlies (3 goals, 6 assists). Leafs head coach Craig Berube indicated that the Harvard alum has played the right side in the AHL and he skated alongside lefty Simon Benoit at practice on Wednesday.
The game also marks the return of Reaves, whose two-year tenure in Toronto – even from those who at first were on board with signing the enforcer – was admittedly a dismal failure, and one of the worst miscalculations of Brad Treliving’s tenure as Leafs GM. The 38-year-old was slow and a defensive liability that made the Leafs’ fourth line vulnerable most of the time.
Teams were more anxious to keep him on the ice than to match up their tough guy with him, and after being placed on waivers before the trade deadline, it was a forgone conclusion that he would either be bought out or traded in the summer. The video tribute for the veteran winger should be the announcement of the trade and looking at it objectively, the fact that Toronto got a serviceable player in return for him is miraculous.
Berube made some lineup tweaks with Bobby McMann sitting out his one-game suspension for the high stick on Oliver Bjorkstrand. The top line of Knies – Matthews – Domi, and fourth line of Lorentz – Laughton – Jarnkrok remained intact, but the slumping William Nylander replaced McMann on the third line with Dakota Joshua, and Nicolas Roy, and Nick Robertson replaced Nylander on the second line with Easton Cowan and John Tavares.
Dennis Hildeby will make his third straight start, and on an encouraging note, Joseph Woll took shots from teammates one week after suffering a lower body injury. Berube is still waiting on an update on defenseman Chris Tanev and downplayed the report from Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, that said that the veteran blueliner and the club are contemplating surgery to alleviate the injury issues he has encountered.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (14-11-4 – 32 POINTS)
vs.
SAN JOSE SHARKS (14-14-3 – 31 POINTS)
DECEMBER 11, 2025 ▪ 7:00 PM EST ▪ SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON)
TV: TSN ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590
MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY vs. SAN JOSE SHARKS
| All-Time Record: | 28-23-5-5 (61 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 17-10-2-3 (32 Games) |
| 2024-25: | 0-0-2 |
| Last Five: | 3-0-2 |
| Last 10: | 5-2-3 |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | November 4, 1991 (Toronto 4 vs. San Jose 1) |
| All-Time Record: | 28-23-5-5 (61 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 17-10-2-3 (32 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 11-13-3-2 (29 Games) |
| Last Home Win vs. Opponent: | January 9, 2024 (Toronto 7 vs. San Jose 1) |
MAPLE LEAFS / SHARKS – 2025-26 TEAM STATS
| TORONTO | SAN JOSE | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 3.34 (5th-T) | 2.77 (24th-T) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 3.17 (20th-T) | 3.29 (23rd) |
| Power Play %: | 13.7 (32nd) | 18.8 (17th-T) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 81.7 (12th) | 80.4 (18th) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 27.0 (22nd-T) | 23.9 (32nd) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 31.3 (30th) | 31.4 (31st) |
| Faceoff %: | 57.0 (1st) | 47.4 (25th-T) |
| (NHL rank in parenthesis) | ||
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