Cathy Squires

The awards are in Nashville this year, after pandemic cancellations, and last year's strange hybrid of pre-announced winners and a show in Tampa during the playoffs, the full show moves out of Vegas after years in that city.

I have to begin by admitting that when Mitch Marner was announced as a Selke Finalist, I burst out laughing. Not as loud as for Erik Karlsson, Norris Trophy candidate, but nearly. After I'd stopped, I considered the situation and thought, okay, this is a good opportunity to

You've all heard it from somewhere: John Tavares is the reason the Leafs can't add five or six new superstar players and win the Cup. He's no good anymore, he's past it, he's in the way and he needs to waive that no-move clause.

James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton were the players behind the Pride initiative in Philadelphia, and I trust them both to have been sincere in their work, and sincerely frustrated by the conversation that ensued that was all about Provorov.

It's been said dozens of times that the Leafs can't afford Bunting. But of course they could, and they may actually acquire someone new in the lower end of his price range in the coming days, but the Leafs can't afford to overpay someone as much as he will be overpaid in the marketplace.

The Buffalo Sabres will be participating in a preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Joe Thornton Community Centre in St. Thomas, Ontario on Wednesday, September 27 as part of Kraft Hockeyville celebrations.

I have no idea what type of team Brad Treliving is going to build. While it seems like he's building that team with Sheldon Keefe, we have no idea what format it will take.

In Monday's 32 Thoughts, Jeff Marek named three possible hires for the Maple Leafs open coaching slot. Two were names he'd heard as possibles, and one is just a rational guess everyone has made by now. Let's start there.

The Leafs don't have a lot of assets to trade to add players, and the free agent market means older, and more expensive relative to player worth most of the time. Getting a good, young, cost-controlled player is the holy grail, but is it possible?

Maple Leafs and NHL news and information for you to chat about on a Friday in the summer.

There's been reports that the Leafs are happy to re-sign William Nylander, something that the general zeitgeist would have had you think was unlikely a month ago. A lot of people thought they'd sacrifice him to pay Mitch Marner.

Instead of guessing the future, which is basically all we do in June, July and August around here, how about a break where we think about the past, question the way things have always been done and ask where else there should be changes than just the players themselves.

June 30 is the deadline this year for Qualifying Offers to RFAs, hard on the draft, there isn't a lot of time for teams to get things organized before free agency opens the very next day.

It's been a few years since buyouts were very relevant to our interests around here, but this year is different. The Leafs have open positions to fill, and they also have that goalie issue.

Kevin Weekes with the scoop today.

Usually this sort of thing is mostly obvious, but Kyle Dubas (clearly intentionally) left the team in a state where it can be radically altered this summer while not touching the core players. Now there's a new GM at the helm, and we're flying blind when it comes to guessing on his likely moves.

There is no case to trade one of the Leafs top players because somehow that magically makes the team better. It is extremely hard to make a team better trading elite or near-elite talent in the immediate term, even if you're happy with short term gains.

There are 2 - 5 games remaining in the Stanley Cup Final, and when that ends, one team is very happy, and the other 31 teams get to work.

It all began with Nick Kypreos who is quoted as saying that there are "rumblings" that the Leafs are interested in Shane Doan. On Monday's Jeff Marek show, Elliotte Friedman said that it can't be confirmed to be happening, but Kypreos was not wrong in what he said.

You're not supposed to. You're supposed to hate them or be bitter about them or jaded or resigned to them being so Leafy ha ha. You're not supposed to just like them.

This is in the early stages, but the context for this news comes as Mike Babcock is confirmed to be the head coach in Columbus once his Maple Leafs contract ends at the end of this month and other teams are finalizing coaching searches.

Kyle Dubas built a team that was competitive and if they keep trying eventually they'll get the bounces and they'll win. He didn't build a team to go for it and win the Cup. Okay. How do you know? Because they lost x times in a row. Ergo...

Just add water and stir. The takeaway noodles you can make at home!

The first media availability of the Maple Leafs new General Manager is live in this post – will be replayable later. Scheduled start time is 11:00 am.

There has been talk all summer that multiple NHL teams were interested in Carbery as a head coach, giving him a step up to the next rung on the career ladder – the way most teams fill open positions.