The Maple Leafs held a practice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday before flying to Denver. <\/p>\n
John Tavares<\/a> has returned home to be with his family following the birth of his fourth child. <\/p>\n \u201cJohn is a proud father again,\u201d coach Jim Hiller revealed after practice. \u201cGreat news there. Tucker Tavares, 10 pounder, so we got ourselves a power forward on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n The baby arrived a little earlier than expected. <\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, I thought it was next week,\u201d said winger William Nylander<\/a>. \u201cSo, I was shocked when I saw texts this morning. It was awesome and so happy for him. It\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n Hiller isn\u2019t sure when Tavares will rejoin the team, but the 36-year-old centre will not play in Saturday\u2019s game against the Colorado Avalanche<\/a>. After that game, the Leafs have a couple days off before wrapping up their road trip on Tuesday against the Utah Mammoth<\/a>.<\/p>\n With Tavares out, Nick Paul is moving up to the second-line centre spot between Nylander and Easton Cowan<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWe had a couple nice reps today in practice,\u201d Nylander noted. \u201cI think it was clicking pretty good. I haven\u2019t played with him yet, but I know what he\u2019s done in Tampa and seeing him in the first couple of games here with us, I love the way he plays the game. I think it\u2019ll be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul has been anchoring Toronto\u2019s third line so far this season playing mainly between Cowan and Colton Sissons<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cOne, I\u2019m just thankful for the depth that we have in the centre position,\u201d said Hiller. \u201cAnd, two, I think he\u2019s played really well this year. You know, we\u2019ve really liked him together with Sissons, whether it\u2019s been with [Gavin] McKenna or Cowan, they\u2019ve been solid defensively and been a dangerous offensive line … So, playing with Nylander and Cowan, I think that can be a good offensive line as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Sissons moved to the middle on the third line at practice skating between McKenna and Bo Groulx<\/a>. <\/p>\n Zack MacEwen<\/a>, who has been a healthy scratch in the last four games, skated on the fourth line with Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Leafs also called up Miles Wood<\/a> from the American Hockey League and he was set to meet the team in Denver. Wood was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> in the Kirill Marchenko<\/a> trade on the eve of the season. <\/p>\n Leafs Ice Chips: With new dad Tavares out, Paul moves up to second-line centre John Tavares is back in Toronto after another addition to their family, which means Nick Paul is getting bumped up to the second line. Mark Masters has more on the lineup as the Maple Leafs prepare for the Avalanche. <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Paul scored his first goal of the season on Thursday when a shot by Darren Raddysh<\/a> deflected in off him in the first period. Although Raddysh initially thought his shot went straight in. <\/p>\n \u201cHe just said, \u2018Yeah, right, you touched that,\u2019\u201d Paul revealed of their conversation at the bench. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, look at my leg.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the black mark on his socks, so I\u2019ll give him that one,\u201d Raddysh acknowledged with a grin. <\/p>\n Raddysh\u2019s shot registered at 95.3 mph. Did it hurt? <\/p>\n \u201cIt just nicked me, honestly,\u201d said Paul, who also played with Raddysh in Tampa Bay. \u201cTrust me, I\u2019ve eaten a lot of his [shots], especially in practice, and it\u2019s not fun, especially when they get to you above the shin pad. But, yeah, on those, you know, if you\u2019re taking the goalie\u2019s eyes away, you kind of get skinny as soon as it\u2019s hit, and make the goalie choose a side and hopefully it\u2019s the wrong side.\u201d<\/p>\n Setting up shop in front of the net is a big part of Paul\u2019s game and the 6-foot-3, 225-pound forward isn\u2019t planning to change his approach despite moving up the lineup. <\/p>\n \u201cI just play the same way,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously when plays are there to be made, make them, but for me it\u2019s just hard forecheck, turn pucks over, and get it into their [Nylander and Cowan\u2019s] hands and be in around the net. So nothing really changes from my game.\u201d<\/p>\n What does Nylander like about Paul\u2019s game? <\/p>\n \u201cJust his overall competitiveness,\u201d the smooth-skating Swede said. \u201cHe plays both sides of the puck. Size, too. Just a very dependable guy.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘I saw the black mark’: Paul keeps Raddysh receipt on first goal with Leafs After Nick Paul took away Darren Raddysh’s first goal as a Maple Leaf, with a sneaky deflection off his leg. The two new Leafs had a good laugh after seeing visual proof on Paul’s sock. <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n During the third period on Thursday, Hiller moved Nylander up to the top line beside Auston Matthews<\/a>. The same thing happened down the stretch of Tuesday\u2019s game against the Nashville Predators<\/a>. <\/p>\n But at Friday\u2019s practice the top line was once again back to the usual formation with Matthews between Marchenko and Jack Roslovic. <\/p>\n Why is Hiller holding off on putting Matthews and Nylander together to start games? <\/p>\n \u201cWell, we\u2019re just starting to find our way,\u201d the coach explained. \u201cWe know what they can do together. Typically, they played a lot. When I was here [as an assistant coach in the first three seasons of Matthews\u2019 career] they played together all the time, and so we always know that\u2019s a go-to. But we want to try to find some more chemistry with some other guys, or see if we can find some more chemistry with some other guys. And, you know, if those things don\u2019t work then we\u2019ll probably lean more on that.\u201d<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n It looks like the Leafs will be shuffling their defence pairs for the first time this season as Raddysh took the first reps of practice with Jake McCabe<\/a> on Friday. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a steady defenceman,\u201d said Raddysh. \u201cHe\u2019s done it a long time, and he makes a smart read, smart plays, and he can be physical as well. So, yeah, looking forward to playing with him and trying to build some chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA great puck mover,\u201d McCabe said of Raddysh. \u201cHe\u2019s got a heavy shot, obviously. Try to feed him as much as we can in the offensive zone to get the shot off. Obviously produced a goal for us last night. But, I mean, just the presence of it is huge, and he plays hard. He plays really good defence. He\u2019s got a good stick, very competitive, so I look forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Raddysh had been partnered with Morgan Rielly<\/a> through the first five games of the season while McCabe had been skating alongside Chris Tanev<\/a>. <\/p>\n Rielly and Tanev took reps together on Friday while the third pair of Oliver Ekman-Larsson<\/a> and Troy Stecher<\/a> remained unchanged. <\/p>\n Ekman-Larsson appeared no worse for wear despite leaving Thursday\u2019s game early after taking a big hit from Jeremy Lauzon<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leafs set to shuffle defence pairs for first time with MacKinnon on deck Jim Hiller explains why now was the right time to mix up his defensive pairs, as the Maple Leafs get set to visit Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche on Saturday. <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n During a second period penalty kill on Thursday, McCabe was able to stand-up former teammate Mitch Marner<\/a> with a big hit. <\/p>\n \u201cI knew Caber\u2019s a physical guy so I wish I got my head up a little bit better there,\u201d Marner said. \u201cBut I\u2019ll joke around with him a little bit about that and try to get him back later.\u201d<\/p>\n The pair of good friends met up after the game. <\/p>\n \u201cI told him, \u2018It took me 12 years and I can finally catch you now,\u2019\u201d McCabe said with a wide smile. \u201cBecause he\u2019s not very easy to catch out there. No, we had a good laugh about it. I love Mitchy to death, so it was good to catch up with him after the game.\u201d<\/p>\n McCabe\u2019s check was only the second hit Marner has taken this season, per NaturalStatTrick.com. <\/p>\n \u201cI mean, you don\u2019t usually see Mitch get hit,\u201d said Nylander. \u201cMaybe he was just relaxing because he thought he wasn\u2019t going to get hit. That\u2019s probably what happened … I was sitting on the side of the bench where I didn\u2019t see what happened. I just heard an \u2018Ooooooh.\u2019 But that was fun to see [on replay].\u201d<\/p>\n McCabe on hitting pal Marner: ‘Took me 12 years and I can finally catch him now’ Former Maple Leaf Mitch Marner had a good laugh after getting into it with his former defencemen Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev. <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n McCabe will be facing another elusive opponent on Saturday in Nathan MacKinnon<\/a>. He sees the challenge as similar to what he dealt with on Thursday against Jack Eichel<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re so good at building speed,\u201d McCabe said. \u201cYou gotta really be paying attention when they\u2019re in their own end. Really their own D-zone is almost where they\u2019re most dangerous sometimes. It sounds silly but when they build that speed and you don\u2019t see it coming, they get that puck in the middle of the ice and it\u2019s pretty hard to close the gap and get a good stick on them or slow them down. So just got to be very mindful when he\u2019s out there and when he\u2019s building that speed and then just trying to get above him and eliminate his time and space as best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n MacKinnon has eight points in four games as the Avalanche have once again stormed out of the gates with a 3-1-0 record. <\/p>\n \u201cThey play a pretty unique style of game,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cThey\u2019re a really dynamic rush team. The defence probably skate as well, as six, as any other group in the league. It presents some challenges defensively, for sure. For us, we\u2019ve got to continue to focus on being in the offensive zone and with tight support. We\u2019ve seen some good strides that way. That\u2019s the best defence, really, if you can just hold onto pucks, be dangerous, and tire people out, which Vegas did to us. We weren\u2019t able to create any offence because we were too tired. That\u2019s kind of the game we have to play against Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n Maple Leafs: Bad loss or sign major problems still exist? The Maple Leafs stormed out to an early 3-0 lead against the Golden Knights on Thursday, before Vegas took the game over and eventually won in a shootout. Was this just a bad loss for the Leafs or a sign that major problems still exist within the team? TSN Hockey analyst Cameron Gaunce joins Domino’s That’s Hockey to discuss. <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n