The Toronto Maple Leafs will have to make a lineup change for their game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

That’s because Bobby McMann won’t play. On Tuesday night, the 29-year-old was suspended one game for his high-stick on Oliver Bjorkstrand Monday night. All in all, that’s exactly what we expected. Bottom line: You need to have control of your stick, and whether it was forceful or not, McMann didn’t. That said, the inconsistencies continue when it comes to the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. You just never know what they’re thinking.

At any rate, it’s amazing what a few weeks of strong play could do. Toronto, who’s 5-1-1 in its past seven games, is getting ready to welcome Ryan Reaves’ Sharks to Scotiabank Arena. Of note, judging by the lines at practice, it appears that Nick Robertson will draw in for the suspended McMann. It looks like Scratch & Score will be on the second line with Easton Cowan and John Tavares —at least to start. Meantime, Henry Thrun, who came to Toronto in the Reaves deal with San Jose, was recalled and could be on track to make his Leafs debut against his former squad. Meantime, Joseph Woll skated for 30 minutes before Wednesday’s practice, so that’s good. Also, both Chris Tanev and Marshall Rifai were on the ice for practice, too, albeit in non-contact jerseys. The Leafs have surrendered 10 goals in their past seven outings.

After that discussion, former Toronto Marlies bench boss and current head coach/GM of Adler Mannheim, Dallas Eakins, stopped by. He dished on the Leafs’ turbulent start, and what’s changed the last little while. Additionally, Eakins hit on the struggling power play and how Savard and company should be approaching things moving forward. We talked about the chaos in the Atlantic Division, too. Over and above all that, Eakins was very complimentary of Dennis Hildeby and Troy Stecher, who’ve each been tremendous – in small sample sizes – so far for the Maple Leafs. Lastly, he weighed in on where Auston Matthews’ game is at. Eakins also predicted how he envisions the rest of the regular season playing out for the Leafs.

With San Jose in town, Ryan Reaves is slated to make another appearance on the podcast. Join us for the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take as we catch up with Reavo, plus we’ll preview Leafs/Sharks, game No. 3 of Toronto’s five game homestand.

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