- The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without forwards Max Domi and Max Pacioretty tonight but it appears that won’t be the case for much longer. David Alter of The Hockey News reported earlier that they are getting ’close’ to returning from injury despite being ruled out for tomorrow’s game against the Nashville Predators. Toronto has played extremely well of late despite multiple injuries to their forward group accruing an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 contests.
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Maple Leafs Rumors
Maple Leafs Have Discussed Contract Extension With John Tavares
The Maple Leafs have two prominent pending unrestricted free agent forwards in winger Mitch Marner and center John Tavares. While it appears that there haven’t been many discussions with Marner, Chris Johnston of The Athletic reported in a recent TSN Insider Trading segment that Toronto has engaged in talks with Tavares though obviously, the two sides aren’t in agreement on a new deal just yet.
Tavares signed a seven-year, $77MM contract with his hometown team back in 2018 and while the $11MM price tag was among the league leaders at the time, the 34-year-old has delivered. Tavares has three seasons of at least 76 points over that span and overall, has 440 points in 462 games with the Maple Leafs. That 0.952 points-per-game average is actually slightly better than the 0.928 he put up with the Islanders. His playoff performance hasn’t been as strong, however, as Tavares has collected 24 points in 38 postseason outings with Toronto.
But while Tavares has produced at or near the level of a top-line center for the majority of his time with Toronto, it’s also fair to assume it’s unlikely this will be the case much longer; he’ll be entering his age-35 season in 2025-26. While he could still put up above-average production for a little while longer, he’s certainly not going to be able to command $11MM on the open market at this stage of his career. Accordingly, a drop in pay is a near certainty.
How much of one is the big question. At this point, he’s still producing as a top-six forward at a minimum so it’s not as if Toronto can conceivably ask him to cut that price tag in half (or by even more) even though, as Johnston noted, Tavares has made it clear he doesn’t want to test free agency and wants to remain with the Maple Leafs. His value on the open market might still be in the $7MM to $8MM range if he were to actually make it there.
One way around that might be to utilize deferred compensation. Carolina utilized that with a pair of contracts over the summer while the Maple Leafs also took advantage of it on the recent Jake McCabe extension. Using deferred salary would allow the cap hit to go a bit lower while still giving Tavares’ camp the total compensation it might be seeking. How long he’d have to wait for that deferred salary would ultimately dictate how much cap savings Toronto could receive.
At his age, it’s quite possible that this is the final contract that Tavares receives so there is a bit of incentive to consider deferred salary when he’d be in a lower tax bracket and potentially a jurisdiction with lower tax rates. We’ll see in the coming weeks if that’s enough to bridge the current gap between the two sides to keep Tavares in Toronto a little longer.
Leafs Place Jani Hakanpaa On IR, Recall Marshall Rifai
The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed defenseman Jani Hakanpaa on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, retroactive to November 16th. Hakanpaa will be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s healthy, though no specifics have been provided on Hakanpaa’s injury or timeline. In a corresponding move, the Maple Leafs have recalled defender Marshall Rifai from the Toronto Marlies. It’s Rifai’s first call-up of the season after clearing waivers and getting assigned to the minors on October 7th.
It’s not clear if Hakanpaa’s lower-body injury is connected to the knee injury that delayed his start to the season. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure last Spring, after his 2023-24 season was cut short in mid-March. He didn’t need any further testing after that procedure, and went on to sign a two-year deal with Toronto on July 1st – though the deal wasn’t formalized until September 11th, when it was adjusted to a one-year deal.
Hakanpaa didn’t return to full health until November 13th. He’s stepped into the lineup twice this season, recording no scoring, four blocked shots, and a -1. He was apparently injured in his second appearance, and has missed Toronto’s four games since. Hakanpaa has rotated into the bottom of Toronto’s blue-line with Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins. That role will now be handed to Rifai, who’s recorded four points – split evenly – through 17 AHL games this season. He has also recorded a Marlies-leading +10.
Rifai played in the first two NHL games of his career last season, recording no scoring and a +1. He averaged just-under 12 minutes of ice time in the pair of outings. Rifai has spent the bulk of the last two seasons in the AHL since signing as an undrafted college free agent in 2022. He recorded 25 points in 126 games across the pair of seasons.
Maple Leafs Reassign Alex Steeves, Place Bobby McMann On IR
3:00 PM: Confirming the report from Alter earlier, the Maple Leafs reassigned Steeves to the AHL and placed McMann on the injured reserve.
1:00 PM: The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to assign forward Alex Steeves to the minor leagues and place winger Bobby McMann on injured reserve, as they anticipate the return of Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, per David Alter of The Hockey News. Head coach Craig Berube shared on Thursday that McMann could miss the team’s next few games after suffering a handful of bruises in Wednesday’s matchup against Florida. McMann left that game at the end of the second period. An assignment to injured reserve, made retroactive to Wednesday, would hold McMann out of Toronto’s next two games.
There will be little complaining about the need for roster moves from a Toronto brass prepared to add 69-goal scorer Matthews back to the lineup. Matthews has missed Toronto’s last nine games with an upper-body injury. Toronto plans to separate Matthews from usual winger Mitch Marner when he returns, instead lining him up to William Nylander and fellow returnee Knies. Knies has missed Toronto’s last two games with his upper-body injury. He’ll return to a prime opportunity next to Toronto’s strongest scorers, after netting eight goals and 12 points in 20 games this season.
But while these moves bolster the top six, they’ll force some shifting around Toronto’s bottom-six. Fraser Minten and Connor Dewar will likely step down a peg to center Toronto’s third and fourth line respectively; while Alexander Nylander, Nikita Grebenkin, and Nicholas Robertson compete for ice time on the wings. The trio will try to fill McMann’s impactful role on the flanks. He has six goals and seven points in 21 games this season – ranking fourth among all Leafs in goals.
Meanwhile, Steeves is expected to return to the minors after failing to score on an NHL call-up again. Steeves hasn’t scored in the NHL since December of 2021 – when he recorded his first NHL point, an assist, in his third career game. Despite that, he leads the Toronto Marlies in scoring this season, with nine goals and 12 points in 10 games.
Maple Leafs To Activate Auston Matthews From Injured Reserve
Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews will return to the lineup Saturday against the Lightning, he told reporters today, including David Alter of The Hockey News. He’ll need to come off injured reserve, so Toronto will need to make a corresponding transaction to open a spot on the active roster.
So ends a lengthy saga that’s seen Matthews sit out the last nine games, missing nearly a month with an upper-body injury that was initially termed day-to-day. While not a significant injury, it was potentially concerning enough long-term for the Leafs to hold him out and for him to even briefly head overseas last week to see a specialist in Germany that he’s worked with before.
Toronto went on quite the run without the services of their star goal-scorer, going 7-2-0 and outscoring opponents 26-18. That was even as additional injuries to top-nine fixtures like Max Domi and Matthew Knies piled up, at one point leaving them without seven of their usual top 12 forwards in the lineup.
That number could drop to five against Tampa, with Knies also taking line rushes alongside Matthews and William Nylander in today’s practice, per Luke Fox of Sportsnet. He’s also on IR, so if he’s ready to return, a second corresponding transaction would be required.
Things did come to a bit of a head for the Leafs in their last outing, losing 5-1 to the Panthers and seeing their Atlantic Division lead drop to one point. The pending returns of some important forwards will allow overmatched AHL fixtures like Alexander Nylander and Alex Steeves to return to the farm, as could youngsters Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten.
Matthews’ injury had been plaguing him a bit this season before he exited the lineup, evidenced by his subpar five goals and six assists for 11 points in 13 games. He was shooting at a career-low 8.9% rate, though, so his numbers should come alive in short order with natural regression and improved health. The 27-year-old has taken home the Rocket Richard Trophy three times in the past four years, including last season’s career-high 69 tallies (51 at even strength).
McMann Left Last Night's Game With Lower-Body Injury
- The Toronto Maple Leafs also had some injury news with the team announcing forward Bobby McMann left last night’s contest with a lower-body injury. McMann registered zero points while skating in 10:21 of yesterday’s game. It’s more insult to injury to a Maple Leafs’ lineup that may be without a seventh forward due to injury in their upcoming game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
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Maple Leafs Assign Dakota Mermis To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Maple Leafs announced Wednesday that they’ve assigned defenseman Dakota Mermis to AHL Toronto on an LTIR conditioning loan.
Mermis, 30, played some preseason hockey for Toronto but broke his jaw and underwent surgery on Sep. 26. The Maple Leafs placed him on long-term injured reserve when season-opening rosters were due on Oct. 7, and he’s remained there since. He’s recently ramped up his on-ice appearances and has been skating for over a week.
On his conditioning loan, the depth defenseman can stay in the minors for up to three games or six days. However, the Leafs can apply for an extension from the league to extend that stay before he must be activated from LTIR or remain on the list if he’s not ready to return to play.
If Mermis is ready to go when his conditioning loan ends, he’ll likely hit waivers en route to a lengthier assignment to the AHL. The Maple Leafs already carry eight defensemen on the active roster and certainly don’t have the room or flexibility for a ninth with a rash of injuries at forward.
Mermis signed a one-year, one-way league minimum deal with the Leafs over the summer in free agency after playing a career-high 47 games with the Wild last season. A long-time top-four AHL fixture capable of playing depth NHL minutes, the Illinois native posted three goals and five assists for eight points with a -2 rating, 33 PIMs, 59 blocks, and 45 hits while averaging 14:05 per game for Minnesota.
An undrafted free agent signing from the OHL’s Oshawa Generals by the Coyotes in 2015, Mermis now has 431 AHL games and 74 NHL games under his belt across a nine-year professional career. The 6’0″, 194-lb lefty could undoubtedly generate some interest on the waiver wire in the coming weeks as a physical bottom-pairing or press-box option on a cheap contract.
Leafs Notes: Matthews, Knies, Domi, Kampf
The Toronto Maple Leafs received a string of injury updates at practice today, kicked off by captain Auston Matthews taking the ice for his first team skate since November 3rd. Matthews has missed Toronto’s last eight games with an upper-body injury. He returned to the ice on Saturday, working on individual drills after arriving back from a trip to see a specialist in Germany. But despite the return to full practice, Matthews said he’s uncertain if he’ll play on Wednesday, adding that he may need a couple more practices before he feels ready per TSN Sports. The Leafs begin a two-game road trip to Florida tomorrow that will take them through the end of the week.
It goes without saying that Matthews’ return is hotly anticipated. He has a modest 11 points in 13 games this season, but had a career year in 2023-24 – scoring 69 goals and 107 points. His goal-scoring set a Leafs record and marked the most anyone has scored in one season since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. But the Leafs have been doing surprisingly well in his absence, posting a 7-1-0 record and outscoring their opponents 25-to-13. Their 3.125 goals-per-game average on this run is a boost over the 3.0 goals they averaged through their first 13 games. They’ve even improved their goals-per-game average, rising to 3.125 goals over this span after averaging 3.0 in their first 13 games. Matthews is a tremendous talent to add to a hot lineup – and Toronto will hope they can maintain the run through a stretch of tough matchups.
Other updates from today’s Leafs practice:
- Matthew Knies also returned to practice donning a no-contact jersey, shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Knies is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury suffered in Toronto’s November 20th matchup against Vegas. Knies will be another notable addition to the top-six when he returns. He’s so far scored eight goals and 12 points in 20 games while averaging roughly 18 minutes of ice time, and served a key role on both special teams units. Knies is playing through his second full NHL season, after scoring 15 goals and 20 points as a rookie last year.
- From great, to good, to bad – center Max Domi won’t join Toronto on their two-game road trip, as he continues to heal from a lower-body injury per Alter of The Hockey News. Domi will mis his third and fourth consecutive games with this news. He’s been on injured reserve since the 20th as well, and head coach Craig Berube didn’t provide an update on when Domi may return. Berube similarly didn’t have an update on David Kampf, shares Alter’s colleague Evan Doerfler. Kampf was placed on long-term injured reserve on November 16th and is expected to miss through mid-December.
Maple Leafs Allowing Fewest High-Danger Chances In Eastern Conference
- Switching from offensive to defensive standouts, the Maple Leafs are allowing the fewest high-danger chances at 5-on-5 in the Eastern Conference, as identified by Jonas Siegel of The Athletic. That’s due in large part to the addition of Chris Tanev in free agency, who’s flourished on a shutdown pairing with Jake McCabe to put together some of the best defensive work in the league.
Matthews Resumes Skating, Could Return Wednesday
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has returned from Germany where he consulted with a doctor he had worked with in the past in an attempt to relieve his lingering upper-body injury. It appears some progress was made considering he skated with the team during this morning’s practice.
Matthews’s reintroduction into the lineup would give a large boost to the Maple Leafs who’ve produced a 6-1-0 record since their captain went down with injury on November 3rd. He has scored five goals and 11 points in 13 contests for the games he’s been healthy for.