Jason Blake jumped into a lake fully clothed to celebrate when he inked his free agent deal with the Maple Leafs: Leafs Morning Take

Well, that was a good way for the Leafs to start life without Joseph Woll.

Who saw an Ilya Samsonov shutout coming?

We kicked off the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing some of the big news from over the weekend. Shohei Ohtani is a Los Angeles Dodger. Boo! Also, we dissected the Woll news and its impact on the Leafs moving forward. As mentioned, Saturday night was a good start.

Presented by Door Dash, The Appetizer focused on the 4-0 shutout victory over Nashville. Auston Matthews scored twice while the bottom six chipped in with two more goals. By far, it was probably Toronto’s most complete effort of the season thus far. The fourth line had a good night, too.

Meantime, courtesy the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed Monday night’s tilt on Long Island as the Leafs visit the New York Islanders. Of note, it could turn out to be a milestone night for John Tavares, who needs just two points for 1000 in his career. What a story it would be if it happened where his career began. Crazy stuff.

Speaking of which, courtesy our friends over at BATL Axe, Jason Blake, who essentially walked so Tavares could run, stopped by the show for the very first time. We discussed his tumultuous time in Toronto, one – if you remember – that started with a cancer diagnosis in his first training camp with the team. It was a very sobering interview that really puts life into perspective —that’s for sure.

Carter Hutton will be in for Jay Rosehill on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Join us at 11 AM ET as we recap Leafs/Isles plus look ahead to Leafs/Rangers.