Mitch Marner

Is There an Indispensable Leaf?

TORONTO (Sep. 22) — In the current National Hockey League — with a condensed schedule of six months spanning three time zones of travel in Canada and the United States; with players skating on the same ice dimensions as their… Read More

Leafs Following or Bucking Trend?

TORONTO (Sep. 19) — So, the Leafs have made it clear that they can win the Stanley Cup by loading up on forwards while comparably ignoring their blue line. Good luck to them. And, to those that concur. Neither am… Read More

Leafs Still Living Dangerously

TORONTO (Sep. 15) — And, so, the wait(s) continue. Plural. Fifty–one years and counting for a Stanley Cup. Forty years and counting for a Norris Trophy–caliber defenseman. Any person that believes the two aren’t related with respect to the championship… Read More

No Surprise: Leafs Rated Highly

TORONTO (Sep. 2) — For as long as I can remember, dating to my grade–school years, there have been magazines that preview the National Hockey League. In the mid–to–late 1960’s, my dad brought home these items — whereupon I would… Read More

Leafs/Habs in New Territory

TORONTO (Aug. 11) — For so many years in the post–1967 (or expansion) era of the National Hockey League, it was unthinkable that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be acres ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. Fans of both clubs are… Read More

Leafs Could Still Pounce

TORONTO (Aug. 6) — William Nylander emphasized last week he is out for a “long–term” deal coming off entry–level salary restriction, rather than a shorter “bridge” contract. If I were Kyle Dubas, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I… Read More

Are Leafs, Blues Talking?

TORONTO (July 29) — It is merely a whisper at this point and has a number of moving parts. But, a source tells me the Toronto Maple Leafs, interminably looking for a big–time defenseman, and the St. Louis Blues, in… Read More

The Erik Karlsson Dilemma

TORONTO (July 9) — This is a purely hypothetical exercise, for it appears — and to their detriment — that the Toronto Maple Leafs are not involved in trade talks with the Ottawa Senators for Erik Karlsson. Nowhere else on… Read More

How Delusion Festers

TORONTO (July 6) — For as long as anyone can remember; but, specifically, in the age of Internet and social media, the Toronto Maple Leafs have possessed as rabid and unconditionally–loyal a fan–base as any in professional sport. How do… Read More

Crazy 8’s Again For The Leafs

TORONTO (July 1) — You really cannot ask more from a team in the National Hockey League during the off–season than signing the best unrestricted free agent on the market. Which is exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs did Sunday… Read More

The Leafs Would Have to Trade

TORONTO (June 29) — Isn’t it deliciously coincidental that the home of the Maple Leafs, on the very day that John Tavares could choose to ply his trade on Bay St., changes title from an airline to a bank? Yes… Read More

Tavares Hunt Narrowed to Three

TORONTO (June 28) — Let’s assume, for the sake of this blog, that long–time New York hockey writer Arthur Staple (now of The Athletic) — having driven much of the John Tavares coverage — is well within the confines of… Read More

Tavares “Could Easily” Be A Leaf

TORONTO (June 25) — This is one man’s opinion and I have some difficulty sharing it. But, the one man — an amateur scout in the National Hockey League — has been around so long, he remembers watching John Tavares… Read More

Just Imagine If…

Twenty–four years after trading for a guy named Sundin at the 1994 NHL Draft in Hartford, the Leafs chose a guy named Sandin Friday night in Dallas. Will Rasmus turn out anything close to Mats? In the meantime… TORONTO (June… Read More

Will The Leafs Be Next?

TORONTO (June 16) — A cynic would contend it is thoroughly emblematic of this city that our three “least–fashionable” sports teams have won championships in the past 6½ months. No disrespect to the Argonauts, Toronto F.C. or the Marlies, but… Read More

Leafs Kept Their Promise

TORONTO (May 12) — After the extraordinary maneuver of preventing a young executive from advancement in the National Hockey League, the Toronto Maple Leafs came through for Kyle Dubas. Though Dubas was given permission, last summer, to be interviewed by… Read More

Laine or Auston? What About Lou?

TORONTO (May 2) — It’s that date again. For the 51st time. The end of the six–team era in the National Hockey League. The beginning of the longest–ever Stanley Cup famine. Yes, there was pandemonium, Toronto style, 51 years ago… Read More

And the Wait Continues

TORONTO (Apr. 26) — Quite the coincidence that fewer than 24 hours after another failed Stanley Cup bid by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dave Keon was announced as an inductee into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. Considered the greatest… Read More