Training camp is officially underway.

As mentioned, everyone’s in the best shape of their lives. Unsurprisingly, there seems to be a different tone to the Maple Leafs this season, too. Maybe it’s because Brendan Shanahan’s gone or there’s no Mitch Marner drama to deal with it, but it feels/sounds like everyone’s in a good spot right now. Obviously, this team will be judged by what they do next spring, but entering the 25/26 campaign, they’re chilled and focused. Things feel different this time around —which is a good thing.

With all that in mind, we kicked off the latest edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing Connor McDavid. But honestly, how could we not? The Oilers captain did the seemingly unthinkable. Everyone proclaimed it to be a foregone conclusion that he would be extended by now, yet he’s not. It’s starting to feel very John Tavares leaving Long Island. And honestly, the 32 Thoughts interview did him no favours. McDavid seems very motivated to have a big season in Edmonton, but after that, all bets seem to be off. He’s taking his time with this.

After that, we got into Leafs training camp. We have some line combinations, baby. While it’s important to acknowledge that Max Domi’s currently considered day-to-day, it appears that Matias Maccelli will get the first look with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on the top line. It’s too early to start breaking down line combinations, but that’s where we’re at to kick off camp. Meantime, Matthews says he’s feeling healthy, which is a far cry from how he felt this time last year. Without question, his status and health means everything to this Maple Leafs team. Additionally, we dissected Brad Treliving’s podium. Most specifically, we talked about what he had to say about Morgan Rielly. Treliving revealed that the two had a heart-to-heart last season and he’s very proud of the work Rielly’s put in this summer. We’ll see if that translates to on-ice success. Over and above all that, Treliving said he’s hopefully they can get an extension done with Anthony Stolarz. We’ll see where it goes.

Brought to you by Simply Spiked, we then played our interview with Oliver Ekman-Larsson from late last week. He touched on his summer, the loss to Florida, and if he thinks this Leafs team has what it takes to get over the top. Ekman-Larsson had a very solid first season in Toronto. He likes what his team did this summer. He thinks they will be harder to play against in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

We’ll be offering up three episodes of Leafs Morning Take next week. Join us on Monday at 11 AM ET as we tackle the very latest news and notes out of Maple Leafs camp.

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