Blankenburg, whose most recent NHL action was for the Colorado Avalanche, will suit up against his former team Saturday as the Maple Leafs dress all seven D-men and shorten their forward lineup to 11.
“He’s been patient. He’s excited,” coach Jim Hiller said pregame inside Denver’s Ball Arena.
“He’s unfortunately had to play this role before, where he’s had to wait at the start of the season. But when he’s got in, he’s played well. It’s his old team, so probably a little extra exciting for him tonight.”
The puck-moving, undrafted Blankenburg was rented from Nashville at the 2026 trade deadline by the contending Avs and appeared in 12 regular-season games plus five more in the postseason. In total, the right shot scored three goals and added an assist in his third-pair minutes for Colorado.
Blankenburg arrived at Toronto’s camp on a tryout and earned a one-year, $1.4-million contract as the club’s seventh defenceman. He did not appear in the team’s first five games.
Hiller had other lineup options Saturday, with centre John Tavares leaving this road trip early due to the birth of his fourth child, Tucker.
Depth forwards Miles Wood and Zack MacEwen are available.
Against a powerhouse like Colorado, however, the coach was likely going to use a short bench anyway. Expect more ice for the game-breakers and plenty of juggling on the fly.
“You’re gonna keep track of the line combinations tonight. That’ll be fun for someone,” Hiller smiled.
“Just can mix more guys around. If somebody’s having a good night, I can find a little bit more ice time for him, beyond some of the guys that play most of the minutes. So, it’s nice to get somebody else who typically doesn’t play as much more minutes.”
While forwards lick their chops at the notion of extra shifts, an extra blueliner can throw the rhythm off with the pairings.
“Defence would tell you they don’t really like seven. So, I don’t know exactly how that’s going to go, because sometimes you spread that out too much and nobody gets in a groove on the back end,” Hiller said. “So, we’ll just see how it goes.”
For the first time in his Leafs tenure, Hiller declined to announce his starting goaltender before Sergei Bobrovsky (0-2-1) led the Leafs out for warmups.
Bobrovsky faced 43 shots in Thursday’s shootout loss in Vegas and elected for rest Friday in lieu of practice.
“I gave you so much information. I’m gonna have to let you wait on this one. You guys think I’m just an open book? You got everything,” the coach said, with a grin.
“That one you’re gonna have to wait on. I want to keep that one to myself.”
This is the first time Toronto has dressed seven defencemen since Dec. 12, 2023, per Sportsnet Stats (a 7-3 win over the Rangers).
Maple Leafs projected lineup Saturday in Colorado:
Marchenko – Matthews – Roslovic
Cowan – Paul – Nylander
McKenna – Sissons – Groulx
Blueger – Duhaime
McCabe – Raddysh
Rielly – Tanev
Ekman-Larsson – Stecher
Blankenburg