Carlo Colaiacovo labels Mitch Marner as the most important player on the team: Leafs Morning Take

For the second time in less than a week, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in Philadelphia to tangle with the Flyers.

This time though, John Tortorella, who missed last meeting due to suspension, will be behind the bench. In true Torts fashion by the way, it appears he’s healthy scratching three of his vets (Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, and Marc Staal). Wild stuff. Anyway, if you do recall, the Leafs took Thursday night’s encounter in convincing fashion 6-2. Just for good measure, Sheldon Keefe got Flyers assistant Rocky Thompson all fired up late in the game when he threw his first power play out there with a commanding lead. All in all, it will be fascinating to see if there’s a response to that in this one.

We kicked off the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing the new Amazon series that’s expected to start filming in the fall. The NHL has reportedly signed on to do a behind-the-scenes series that will centre around 10-12 star players. For what it’s worth, we both agreed that William Nylander would be a perfect candidate for this kind of project.

Presented by Door Dash, The Appetizer focused on some of the news and notes coming out of Monday’s practice. Firstly, due to illness, Ilya Lyubushkin is not expected to play, which means Simon Benoit could draw back into the lineup. Additionally, it looks like Ryan Reaves replace Noah Gregor, who played Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. Meantime, the Leafs are expected to unveil two fresh new power play units. Over the past 9 games, the Leafs are 1-for-24 on the PP. Yikes.

After that, courtesy the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed the third and final game against Philadelphia this season. The Leafs, who are 20-7-6 on the road, have won eight straight meetings with the Flyers.

Meantime, TSN Hockey Analyst Carlo Colaiacovo, who played for both squads, dropped by to dish on the very latest surrounding the Maple Leafs. We touched on the struggling PP, the crease, Mitch Marner’s injury, and the feeling around this team entering the most important stretch of the year.

 

Join us for the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take at 11 AM ET. We’ll recap Leafs/Flyers, plus get you set for the tilt in Washington —the second game of the back-to-back.