Auston Matthews and the rest of the team are reportedly welcoming back a familiar face ahead of the 2025–26 NHL season. With general manager Brad Treliving at the helm, it’s only fitting that a retired player with ties to both the Calgary Flames and the Toronto Maple Leafs is joining the organization.

The NHL regular season is approaching and it’s time for Matthews and the Leafs to face the music. Mitch Marner is no longer in The Six. Now, the Buds must put on their best face and take on the rest of the league. If Toronto is serious about righting its wrong from years past, it must prove it early in the year.

On that note, Treliving and the brass in Hogtown are welcoming a familiar face into a new role with the organization: none other than Mark Giordano, who played for the Leafs from 2022 to 2024. Reports suggest the retired blueliner will primarily work with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

“Mark Giordano will be joining the Leafs’ staff, primarily working with the Toronto Marlies. A formal announcement is expected imminently,” The Leafs Nation’s reporter Arun Srinivasan said on X.

Mark Giordano at TD Garden on January 14, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts

Mark Giordano at TD Garden on January 14, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts

The more things change…

While the Maple Leafs are excited about the upcoming NHL season, they can’t help feel anxious about the sudden changes in the locker room. Marner’s absence will be felt throughout the year, and it will be brought up constantly by the media in Toronto. If things head south, the buzz will be unbearable.

NHL News: Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving gives blunt answer on top-six forward hunt to support Auston Matthews

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NHL News: Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving gives blunt answer on top-six forward hunt to support Auston Matthews

“I guess we lost a player — a real good player here — but we added three new players to our lineup and I’m excited about that,” Craig Berube commented, per The Hockey News.

“I’m excited to see where they fit in and how they look and try to find some chemistry with players and things like that. It’s a change, we all know that. Losing Mitch and bringing in three new players, it’s a little bit of a change here for sure.“

Flipped the script

“I mean, like for us now, we’ve turned the page, right? We’re moving forward. We wish Mitch all the best, but our focus is on our team, not what was. It’s what is now,” Treliving said. “And I said at the time, you’re not just replacing him, right? We can all break it down however you want. To me, it’s not replacing 100 points. So to me, it was rounding out the roster, and I feel good about it.“

As much as it stings for the hometown kid’s story not to unfold in Toronto, the Maple Leafs know it might be for the best. The Buds seemed to be banging their heads against the wall, hoping things would magically change.

SurveyWho will finish higher in the Atlantic Division?

Who will finish higher in the Atlantic Division?

It didn’t. So now it’s time for Matthews and company to create their own luck. Perhaps giving up on Marner wasn’t the right decision, but Toronto was tired of waiting—and this is the only way the Leafs can truly find out. At least now the Buds won’t have to hear about the “Core Four”, like Berube joked in his press conference.