After a two-plus week hiatus, we’re back, baby!

T-minus 29 days until the season opener in Montreal!

With that in mind, the latest edition of Leafs Morning Take opened on a somber note. We talked about the Gaudreau tragedy and tried to make sense of the nightmare story. It was so senseless, and for me, it really put life into perspective. We’re not promised tomorrow. May Johnny and Matthews rest in peace. They will be greatly missed.

It was a tough transition, but we tried our best. Presented by Greta Bar YYZ, we got into all the newsworthy items surrounding the Maple Leafs. First and foremost, we broke down Nick Robertson’s extension. For what it’s worth, just because he has a new deal, it doesn’t mean that the 22-year-old won’t be moved ahead of the season. If anything, this will make it easier to execute a move. We examined every scenario including one where Robertson stays and excels under Craig Berube.

After that, we jumped into Max Pacioretty. At this point, I have it on good authority that he’s going to be a Leaf. Initially, it will likely be via a PTO, but it wouldn’t be shocking in the slightest to see a contract worked out once the Leafs shed some cap space. There’s a lot of moving parts to this.

Then, we discussed Mitch Marner training with Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby in Vail. Both of us expect a monster season from the star who’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. I smell 100-plus points. Additionally, we touched on Mark Giordano potentially still being in play for the Leafs. On surface, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, especially with the Jani Hakanpaa contract expected to become official over the next few days. Also, we talked Jake McCabe. News broke late last week that there’s been preliminary discussions on a contract extension for the 30-year-old, who’s entering a contract year.

We’ll be back on Thursday at 11 AM ET with a brand new episode of Leafs Morning Take. Talk then!

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