Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby is projected to start Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, via David Alter of The Hockey News.

Hildeby has posted a .914 save percentage in 15 appearances, with a 3-5-4 record. The 24-year-old last appeared during a January 1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, where he replaced Joseph Woll during the second period. Toronto rallied back for a 6-5 win, after trailing 4-1, led by an Auston Matthews hat-trick.

Matthews has been on fire to start the 2026 calendar year, with six goals in his past three games. Toronto’s captain set the franchise record for goals during a January 3 loss against the New York Islanders, and was honoured by the franchise prior to Tuesday’s victory over the Florida Panthers.

Easton Cowan, Nicolas Roy and Nick Robertson have formed real chemistry on the third line, and head coach Craig Berube isn’t making any changes to the lineup from Tuesday’s win, aside from Hildeby starting in goal. Cowan, Roy and Robertson connected on a beautiful passing sequence for the game’s opening goal against the Panthers.

“They’ve been good, they’ve been solid. For me, they’ve been solid in all three zones,” Berube said of the Cowan-Roy-Robertson line after Tuesday’s win. “I think they’re probably, in the offensive zone, in my opinion, in the last three of four games, they’ve probably created as many chances as anybody on our team with their puck play. That line’s been very, very good for us. Getting some goals from that line is big for secondary scoring.”

William Nylander did not participate in Thursday’s morning skate and will miss his sixth consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Nylander was placed on injured reserve on January 5. Berube said Nylander is an option for Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.