This Thanksgiving weekend I am most thankful that we are at the furthest point in the year from preseason hockey. As much as the offseason might leave hockey fans starved for anything resembling a puck on the ice, this preseason was a reminder that there is something worse than nothing. There was a lot of interest while the preseason was going on in regard to cutting down the number of games played, but as the NHL moves further away from that and excitement of the start of the season continues, it could be forgotten.

Given that the Leafs are only two games into the regular season and still have their home opener to play tonight it seems premature to praise or condemn any of the Leafs for their regular season performances, I’ll adjust my stray thoughts accordingly.

Speaking of the preseason, it could have gone a lot better for Alex Nylander. He was in three games, didn’t pick up a point and was limited to three shots.

As a player on an AHL contract, he wasn’t exactly getting the quality of linemates that his brother received and Alex spent most of his time playing with bottom six Leafs or players also on their way to the AHL or junior. The onus was going to be on Nylander to work his way up into consideration for a Leafs contract and that didn’t happen and given that the expectations are vastly different for Steven Lorentz compared to Alex Nylander, there is no need to debate one over the other. The plan for Nylander was always the Marlies (to start) and that’s where he’s going.

Now that Alex Nylander is with the Marlies it seems like charting his path back into NHL consideration is his priority. There were offers for him to take NHL deals, but he liked this opportunity close to his brother, but he’s not looking to be a career AHLer in all likelihood and his 11 goals in 23 games with the Blue Jackets last season show if he finds his groove he could easily occupy one of the last three contracts available for the Leafs.

At this point there are probably a few things that Nylander can do to help his return to the NHL. One of them will likely be spending more time at centre and perhaps the Alex Nylander at centre experiment will go better than the William at centre one. There is going to be a similar need to round out the defensive zone game and the AHL is far more forgiving place for that.

There is also something to be said for Nylander finding some chemistry with other potential Leaf callups. Putting Nylander between Grebenkin and Steeves might be the right fit as feisty bottom six type players with offensive upside would likely be who Nylander would find himself with on the Leafs as well. When Fraser Minten is healthy it will also be interesting to see if John Gruden places him with Alex Nylander as a bit of veteran guidance for the AHL rookie.

Nylander becoming a viable depth scoring option is a worthwhile safeguard for a Leafs team that still doesn’t know what Max Pacioretty and Nick Robertson will do against regular season competition, and also has to mitigate the risk of their injuries. It could also come down to the trade deadline and the best option could be Nylander.

If this season does result in the NHL for Nylander thanks to the logistical challenges of fitting depth scoring into the Leafs lineup, it seems likely that a successful AHL season would yield a better opportunity with the Leafs next season. The goal does seem to be to play with his brother, and perhaps Craig Berube purposely kept Alex and William away from each other in the preseason so that carrot can still be dangled.

Joseph Woll not being ready to go for the season opener was a bit of a hiccup for the Maple Leafs and one I’m sure they had hoped to avoid but the organization can still look around the league and find some optimism when it comes to their goaltending situation. Namely when it comes to their depth and salary cap situation.

The matching $8.25M cap hits for former teammates Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have set the starting goaltender rate pretty high. Igor Shesterkin has reportedly turned down a deal that would pay him $11M a season, and even when it getting to the tandem level of goaltending, Joey D’Accord has received a long term deal with a $5M AAV.

The Leafs not only being locked into Woll and Stolarz for next season at a combined $6.167M and even after Stolarz’ contract expires in 2025-26, the Leafs are likely to be able to take advantage of their depth with Dennis Hildeby looking to be a worthwhile affordable successor in the Leafs’ system.

While Jeremy Swayman was right that goaltending salaries are going to trend upward, largely in part due to his actions, the Leafs look like as long as they start seeing better health outcomes, they will be able to avoid paying a premium in net until at least a couple more increases to the salary cap have taken place.

It’s been reported previously around the time of the captaincy transfer, but mentioned again this week by Pierre LeBrun that contract talks between John Tavares and the Maple Leafs have opened up and are ongoing. The Leafs are reportedly taking a rather passive approach to the discussion given that John Tavares wants to remain in Toronto and may be more motivated that they are to cement those plans.

While it is certainly a refreshing change to see the Leafs recognize when they may have the upper hand in negotiations and potentially looking like the party more willing to walk away from the table, waiting longer into the season has come with the reality of increased prices. There are players like Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Brad Marchand, Patrick Kane, and Claude Giroux that are all pending free agents and even if John Tavares is willing to take less than those deals to stay in his hometown, there is some potential that they could have a negative impact if a trend based on the limited supply of free agents and rising salary cap results in higher cap hits than the Leafs are comfortable paying Tavares.

There is also something to be said for John Tavares having a better year in 2024-25 than 2023-24 and the impact that could have. While a downward trend in production to go along with age is most likely, it is worth considering how much Tavares’ powerplay point totals dried up last season with Guy Boucher running the powerplay. Under Marc Savard there is a potential for a bump in production there and that could increase Tavares’ value, and while some Leafs fans might be ready to walk away if the price gets too high, the organization does seem interested in bringing Tavares back and replacing him through free agency could result in paying more to get less.

While at a different position, the cap hit for Chris Tanev ($4.5M AAV), and the rumoured contract for Jake McCabe (around $5.2M AAV) set a range for what the Leafs are willing to spend on their veteran players in their 30s that are in support of the core.

If your plan for Tavares was that he was taking a deal similar to Spezza, Giordano, or Thornton’s deals when they came to Toronto, it’s worth remembering that Spezza was down to 27 points in his last year in Dallas, Joe Thornton had 31 in his last year in San Jose, and Giordano signed his deal at 39. Pacioretty this year is proving he can come back from his injuries. John Tavares’ numbers are still very solid for a second line centre and would be good enough to be a 1C on most teams. The best deal probably still comes while there are still some question marks about how John Tavares looks on ice this season.  The Leafs might not to approach Tavares about a deal but should be motivated to find a compromise when his agent presents one.