Ahead of Wednesday’s season opener against the Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs held their final practice before the year begins in earnest.

Sammy Blais and Cayden Primeau both practiced with the team, after being claimed off waivers on Monday. Blais operated as the team’s 13th forward during line rushes, and has built familiarity with head coach Craig Berube, stemming from their shared tenure with the St. Louis Blues.

Easton Cowan and Jacob Quillan skated separately, working with skills coaches. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving addressed the media during Tuesday’s practice session, to speak about the new additions, along with his plan for Cowan, who was left off the opening night roster.

Arun Srinivasan

@Arunthings

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Brad Treliving on Easton Cowan: Today, he's not on the roster. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Easton has had a really good camp. I think he's right there, ready to play for us. If he's going to be playing with us here, great, but if he's not, I want him playing."

3:06 PM · Oct 7, 2025

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“We got a plan for him,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said of Cowan. “And I said he had a good camp. I liked him in camp. We all liked him in camp. He’s a player that’s going to help the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Arun Srinivasan

@Arunthings

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other practice notes: William Nylander got some individual work in prior to the Leafs' practice, shooting with real velocity. No return date for Joseph Woll yet. Sammy Blais is the 13th forward at practice, Easton Cowan and Jacob Quillan working separately.

3:11 PM · Oct 7, 2025

Auston Matthews is confident about his status and the Maple Leafs entering season

Throughout the preseason, Auston Matthews displayed the form that propelled him to a 69-goal campaign two years ago. There’s natural curiosity, or even anxiety, about Matthews’ status entering the year, after missing 15 games due to a lingering upper-body injury. Matthews expressed confidence in the team, and in himself, during a year where his workload will be elevated as the Maple Leafs continue to carry Stanley Cup expectations.

“I thought training camp was great,” Matthews said following Tuesday’s practice. “Now it gets going. Now we start this journey. We just want to continue to take positive steps forward. It’s not going to be perfect by any means but we want to refine the details in our game and coming here with good habits.”

Matthews will centre the first line with Matthew Knies on the left wing, and Matias Maccelli on the right wing. Berube initially wanted Max Domi as the first-line right wing, but changed his plans when Scott Laughton suffered a lower-body injury that will keep him out of the lineup week-to-week.

“Just the way he sees the ice,” Matthews said of Maccelli. “The way he’s able to thread needles, get passes through lanes and sticks that you don’t think are necessarily there. He’s small but I think he’s really competitive and shifty. Really smart hockey player and a guy that I find easy to play with. I think he has a really good mind for the game and getting into different areas that he likes to be. And he knows where I like to be, so we try to work off each other a little bit.”