The Leafs are in Detroit today to reprise another preseason matchup. The preview will be out this afternoon for you.

Debate over Easton Cowan’s Maple Leafs debut gets complicated
Should Cowan’s time come at the expense of tinkering with a winning lineup? Or — a debate for later — at the expense of burning a year off the winger’s entry-level contract?
Sportsnet.caLuke Fox

Note: the above article contains a bit about debating if the Leafs should "burn a year" off the ELC by playing Cowan in the NHL. The term "burn a year" normally refers to the 9-games played that are allowed for a player who can then be sent back to junior or the AHL when they are eligible for their contract to slide.

"Slide" refers to the extension of an ELC by up to two years for players of an eligible age. It turns a three-year ELC into five years. Cowan's contract has slid twice, and he's 20 years old and not eligible by age even if it hadn't.

What might be meant by this line is the other counter on a young player that determines if their season is considered an "accrued season" towards their UFA age. Cowan has to be on the roster for 40 games to count. Long-term thinkers in the NHL consider this much more relevant than what burn a year actually means as someday down the road, the Leafs will be "buying UFA years" with a contract, and the more of them there are, the more expensive it is.

It is not terribly helpful for this article to use the wrong slang term here. These sorts of things are easy to get confused about and forget – I had to look up the criteria for accrued seasons. All of this in service of the point that Cowan might feel bad not getting to play immediately. He'll be fine. Stop turning the word "scratch" into some terrible fate worse than a demotion to the AHL.

Is he going to play tonight? I don't think so, but he did rotate in on the second power play yesterday at practice, so his debut is close. I notice no one is writing articles about how Sammy Blais feels, though. His debut is likely coming later than Cowan's.

Maple Leafs players visit Covenant House Toronto for Canadian Thanksgiving | NHL.com
Domi, Nylander, Benoit spend some time at youth shelter on holiday
NHL logoMike Zeisberger

- TSN
Despite the opening night win for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday against the Canadiens, Auston Matthews felt it was ‘kind of a sloppier game,’ but added it left room for improvement for the top line. The key for Matthews, Matthew Knies and Matias Maccelli will be developing chemistry. Maccelli has already noticed Matthews preference for the give-and-go.
TSN

I like the format of this (confession, though, I haven't had time to read it):

OK, so if...: Exploring some Leafs observations and potential outcomes
With one game down and a busy stretch ahead, Justin Bourne evaluates some of the questions (and answers) we have for the Maple Leafs, and extrapolates what the possible outcomes could be.
Sportsnet.caJustin Bourne

We have baseball this weekend at well as hockey.

The Leafs play Monday in a 2 pm start that is a Prime game, and the Jays play at a time officially TBD for now, but:

We should be able to guess the timing. The Jays actually start their ALCS on Sunday, time not published at time of writing.

The Marlies lost their opener 4-3 with this lineup:

Which is a lot of NHL game experience on the ice.

That's all for now, game information will come later, but don't expect changes to the lineup after a win very often.

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