John Tavares returns to the Leafs lineup tonight

What a different world we lived in last time John Tavares played a game for the Leafs.

Kanye West hadn’t yet released a gospel album, the Washington Nationals had never won a World Series, and there had yet to be a cat on the field during documented Monday Night Football history.

But since Oct.16, all those things have happened, and John Tavares has also seemingly recovered enough from a broken finger to play.

Tavares looks to be slotting in alongside his usual partner in Mitch Marner, and to start, Trevor Moore. I’d expect Ilya Mikheyev to get another look at that line at some point, but with Babcock’s lne blender, it’s tough to tell when exactly that will be.

Tavares has three goals and four assists in eight games this season.