Elliotte Friedman reveals that the Leafs ‘really wanted’ Matt Dumba on July 1st: Leafs Morning Take

On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel about this Leafs team right now?

I’m at about a 4.

They cannot play a lick of defence. It’s borderline scary, and Halloween’s long gone.

At any rate, we kicked off the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take on a light note by discussing William Nylander’s method of transportation to Thursday night’s game. In case you missed it, he took the TTC, which is so William Nylander. It provided a good laugh. And good on him; he was very noticeable once again against Ottawa.

Presented by DoorDash, The Appetizer focused on the ugly 6-3 loss in this year’s first instalment of the Battle of Ontario. John Klingberg had another rough night. Speaking of which, it sounds like he could be a healthy scratch for Friday night’s game against Calgary. Additionally, we did cover a few positives: Nick Robertson potted his first of the season and Nylander extended his point streak to 13 games. But yeah, understandably so, we talked a lot about Toronto’s defensive issues. Sheldon Keefe’s post-game remarks were very telling —that’s for sure.

After that, brought to you by SOBER CARPENTER, we welcomed in Elliotte Friedman for an all-encompassing chat about the current state of the team. Over the course of the nearly 15-minute interview, we were able to touch on all the pertinent topics such as John Klingberg, Ryan Reaves, Sheldon Keefe, and if the Leafs are looking to make a trade. Hell, I even got a Patrick Kane question in there. As per usual, Friedge dropped a ton of Leafs related nuggets worthy of your viewing/listening time.

Hall of Fame weekend is here. Anthony Stewart will fill in for Rosey on the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Join us at 11 AM ET as we preview the rare back-to-back at home against Calgary and Vancouver, respectively. Also, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta will drop by to spill the tea on what he’s hearing about the Maple Leafs.