Happy Blue Year!

Following a disappointing final weekend of 2023, one that included the demotion of Ilya Samsonov, it’s probably a good thing that the Leafs are on the road. Furthermore, they’re in California for a three-game swing, one that starts with a measuring stick game against the Los Angeles Kings.

Carter Hutton filled in for Jay Rosehill for podcast No. 1 of 2024. We kicked off the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing Canada’s terrible showing at the World Junior. In case you missed it, they were ousted by Czechia in the quarters. Ouch. It happens.

Presented by Door Dash, The Appetizer focused on the Ilya Samsonov situation, and luckily, I had Hutts to use at my disposal to break everything down. Honestly, it’s still crazy to see how quickly things have spiralled from a year ago at this time when Samsonov was providing solid goaltending night in and night out. Now, he can’t stop a beach ball and that’s why he currently finds himself as a member of the Toronto Marlies. At this point, there’s no telling where things go from here. One thing’s for sure though, Joseph Woll can’t come back soon enough. On top of that, there’s no question that the Leafs need to be careful with Dennis Hildeby, whom they called up to replace Samsonov.

After that, thanks to Charm Diamond Centres, we recapped everything – game wise – that happened over the weekend. And it was eventful. Aside from the two losses, a noteworthy item was Sheldon Keefe randomly using David Kampf as an example. The 28-year-old was benched for Saturday night’s game against Carolina. Alrighty then.

Meantime, courtesy the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed what feels like a massive game as Toronto kicks off its three-game road trip in Los Angeles. Back on Halloween, the Kings went into Scotiabank Arena and embarrassed the Leafs. We’ll see if Toronto can return the favour.

Jay Rosehill will be back in the mix on Wednesday, and boy oh boy, do we have a big guest lined up. Craig Berube will drop by the show. Also, we’ll recap Leafs/Kings plus look ahead to Leafs/Ducks, a game that may feature the NHL debut of Dennis Hildeby.