{"id":915126,"date":"2026-09-30T08:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T08:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/915126\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T08:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T08:54:14","slug":"maple-leafs-look-like-a-new-team-in-emotional-opening-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/915126\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs ‘look like a new team’ in emotional opening loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 Darren Raddysh<\/a> caught a glimpse of his baby boy Beau in the lower bowl as the Ontario-born defenceman skated out as a Toronto Maple Leaf for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The moment whisked him all the way back to when his own dad, Dwayne, would bring Darren to Scotiabank Arena to watch his favourite hockey team.<\/p>\n

Dwayne died of pancreatic cancer in March. He never did get to see Darren live out his dream. But Beau did.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little bit emotional going out there,\u201d Raddysh said, following Toronto\u2019s 3-2 home loss to the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday. \u201cI saw my son on the glass, and just seeing him kind of brought back memories to me and my dad. So, yeah, it was nice to see him out there and know he was in the stands watching his dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raddysh was one of 10(!) players who made their Maple Leafs debut, a collection of grinders and phenoms, of high-priced free agents and steep-cost trade acquisitions forced to make fast friendships and strike instant chemistry after a truncated training camp and one blast of a boys\u2019 trip to Arizona.<\/p>\n

Heck, one top-six forward, Gavin McKenna<\/a>, hadn\u2019t played a single pro shift that mattered. And another, Kirill Marchenko<\/a>, figured he was going to play for the Blue Jackets until, oh, 26 hours before puck drop.<\/p>\n

Raddysh was hardly the only new guy fielding a flood of exciting texts and ticket requests from friends and family members while trying to dial in the details in a new uniform.<\/p>\n

It probably didn\u2019t help that the Leafs were playing for an overhauled coaching staff against the reigning conference finalists, a familiar, organized group essentially intact from their playoff run deep into May.<\/p>\n

So, yes, the Maple Leafs channelled giddy energy and clean-slate renewal into a furious first 10 minutes. And, yes, sniper William Nylander<\/a> \u2014 buzzing all night \u2014 found twine 48 seconds into the season (plus once more late).<\/p>\n

But, no, Toronto\u2019s hot start was not sustainable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There will be growing pains, for Raddysh (dash-2) and McKenna (same) and some of the Leafs\u2019 D pairs and offensive lines that struggled to sort out their assignments without the puck or bobbled it on the wrong side of centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of new guys, and I thought we looked a little bit like a new team today,\u201d head coach Jim Hiller said. \u201cWe just weren\u2019t connecting with our passes. I don\u2019t know if that has anything to do with nerves or being in the building for the first time, and the first time everybody together, so we just weren’t we weren\u2019t clean as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nylander believes the Maple Leafs \u201csat back\u201d in the second period, when the visitors seized a lead they would not relent, and noted that linemate McKenna might require \u201ca little bit of adjustment time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pre-season affords playmakers more space than the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot a little bit sloppy there halfway through the game, and kind of let momentum slip from our hands a little bit, but I think it\u2019s just some little execution plays. Taking care of the puck when you have to,\u201d captain Auston Matthews said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of those nights all around,\u201d John Tavares agreed. \u201cNothing was really clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

While dangerous top-line shifts gave Beau and the other Leafs faithful hope, costly turnovers in the defensive and neutral zones \u2014 a recurring theme from last season \u2014 proved Toronto\u2019s undoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the chances that they got, we gave them,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cThat was really our Achilles heel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiller promoted the less risky puck hound Easton Cowan to Nylander and Tavares\u2019s line, which was always going to be a defensive gamble. Good for Cowan; a challenge for McKenna.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just going to take some time. Everybody settles into their roles. Everybody wants to do extremely well, and sometimes that\u2019s more of a curse than a blessing. You try to do too much and get a little tight,\u201d Hiller explained, patiently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst time playing for the Maple Leafs in this building in a regular season game, so that might have a little bit to do with some nerves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flush the emotions. Learn from the mistakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Avoid excuses. Get right back on the horse.<\/p>\n

The New York Islanders are rolling into town Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the NHL. You gotta be ready for Game 1,\u201d Raddysh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood thing we play tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Can\u2019t say we\u2019ve seen a rookie skip an optional morning skate, particularly one ahead of his NHL debut, but that\u2019s what McKenna did Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got some swag,\u201d veteran Chris Tanev said, flashing a grin.<\/p>\n

McKenna instead visited with family members in the stands while 11 of his teammates got in a pre-game sweat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually thought it was great. I really did,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cBecause that\u2019s an optional skate. It\u2019s optional if you think you need it to get ready to play tonight. And when I heard he didn\u2019t go out, it didn\u2019t surprise me. He just has that way. He knows who he is. He knows what he has to do. And I think how he\u2019s adapted in a short amount of time just speaks to who he is and the confidence that he has in himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenna\u2019s debut stat line: one shot, minus-2, two giveaways, 42 xGF%, 15:19, one commercial co-starring alongside Michael Cera.<\/p>\n

\u2022 During Tuesday\u2019s Zoom meeting with reporters, Matthew Knies admitted that getting traded out of Toronto began to feel \u201cinevitable\u201d and that the waves of rumours hung over his head this off-season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGlad it\u2019s over with,\u201d said Knies, who was caught off-guard by the timing. \u201cI never saw something like this right before opening day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness plans to drop Knies net-front on the top power-play unit (a job he lost at Leafs camp) and skate him on the left side of Adam Fantilli.<\/p>\n

Fantilli and Knies were both Hobey Baker finalists in 2023, and the centreman described the power forward as \u201ca nightmare\u201d to play against in college.<\/p>\n

Bowness stressed the addition-by-subtraction value of ridding the room of a player who wanted out before the season began (cc: Red Wings, Jets).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could kinda tell Marchy didn\u2019t really want to be here. Don\u2019t need that hanging over us to start the year off,\u201d Zach Werenski said. \u201cIt\u2019s good we got ahead of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 New guy Marchenko sorted out his work visa jumped right into the fire, skating on Matthews\u2019 top line, swiping Jack Roslovic\u2019s spot on the No. 1 power-play unit, and notching an assist in his first shift as a Leaf.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Marchenko told the\u00a0What Chaos!\u00a0podcast that he once wore No. 34 in Russia because of his affinity for Matthews.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know that,\u201d Matthews smiled. \u201cI\u2019ll have to ask him about that. That\u2019s pretty funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

The linemates are already in sync.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember talking about him probably three years ago with one of the guys, and I said, \u2018I think he might be the best unknown player in the league,\u2019 just because of maybe playing in Columbus,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cI felt like every time we would play them, he was one of the best players on the ice. And his skill set is very, very elite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 The most common birth city listed on the NHL\u2019s opening-day rosters?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Maple Leafs are leaning into their status as the team you love \u2014 or love to hate \u2014 with 2026-27\u2019s hype video. Nylander, he of bird-flipping fame, even gets bleeped out for dropping a cuss word. New marketing tack for the storied franchise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Darren Raddysh caught a glimpse of his baby boy Beau in the lower bowl as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":915127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-915126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/915127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}