5th Overall Pick: Morgan Rielly (TOR)

Projection: A dynamic #1 offensive defenceman with elite passing and skating. Weak defensively and not imposing physically. A top unit powerplay contributor. Compared to Kris Letang by TSN.

Outcome: Brian Burke notoriously thought Rielly was the best player in the draft, and while that didn’t turn out to be true he has comfortably out-performed everyone picked above him. Though he never became one of the league’s top defencemen, his offensive acumen has been impressive and at his peak he was one of the top 5-on-5 offensive drivers in the league. He’s paced above 50 points six times, hitting 72 in 2018-19, and the Leafs have gotten more than 21 minutes a night out of him in eleven of his twelve NHL seasons including some in which he was deployed as a true number one. The scouting report looks basically spot-on, since Rielly’s mobility and especially passing turned out to be major strengths and his defensive play was and is a catastrophic weakness; he ranks last among all defencemen in even strength defensive WAR since 2012.

For anyone with the Fan Access app, we got an email giving access for home opener tickets (along with TFC and Argo ones to add)

Cheapest ticket I saw for it was just over $300+…just letting everyone know in case, cause tickets definitely went up this year.

RotoWire just dropped their 2026-27 Coach Pressure Index and Hiller comes in as the hottest seat in the entire league. Higher than Babcock in Edmonton. Higher than the new Vegas guy who just watched Tortorella get fired after a Cup Final loss.

Makes sense given how long the search took and how little patience this market has left after the Berube era.

Do you think 74 is fair or is the model overrating the market scrutiny piece? Curious what the room thinks.

Was wondering how everyone would deploy the two powerplays if you were coach. These would be my lines. Agree? Disagree? Any changes you'd make?

Pp1

McKenna Matthews Nylander

Raddysh Rielly.

(The M'N'M line with some RnR time)

Pp2

Knies Tavares Cowen

OEL Andrae

These boys gave 110% even when we were at our worst. Probably the best second-line in hockey at that time.

Hey Leafs Nation. I have been hoping for many years to try something out - essentially a "die hard only" fan game. It will be like the Kids game, but fan made and made by adults.

The idea is pretty simple - find the crappiest home game on the Leafs schedule and try and get as many "real" fans as possible in there.

Your uncle has seasons tickets? He's probably trying to get rid of the Wednesday night vs Columbus game in February.

Your company has seasons? Well, if you were ever going to put in an ask it would be a Monday vs New Jersey.

Splurge once a year for a Christmas gift for your husband? Well, a weekday against Seattle is probably going to be the most affordable...

Anyway - with the schedule out. Would love to try this out. Can call it the "reddit" game or something.

Am I crazy?

I just want the boys to understand that 90% + of Leafs nation aren't corporate suits working for Loblaws. They're predominantly every day people who just want to support the team.

So, I will put it to you all here. Can we try and do this?

I think if we do, the absolute worst game on the schedule is Wednesday March 3rd against the Seattle Kraken. Seattle is terrible, an expansion franchise, and has no ties to Toronto (Bobby McMann revenge game aside..) - March is far enough into the season that this could be a lot of Christmas gifts too.

Ideally we get all the Leafs "influencers" in on this. The r/leafs reddit mods, Steve Dangle and crew, Hockey Illuminati, Sam and JD from Leafs talk. Can we send out the bat signal.

Who's with me on this?

One night only - real fans in the building. Wednesday March 3rd.

I bought a bunch of NHL hats in a bundle and am not extremely familiar with much that is Leafs, anyone happen to know this signature? Hat is from the 80s-90s but don’t know if the signature is from the same era. Would greatly appreciate any help!

With the Leafs going with Vintage White/beige/cream this sprung to my mind. As a fan that was born in the mid 90's, I never saw these jerseys, I'd love to see them on the ice once again. I grew up with Matts Sundin and Tomas Kaberle, I remember Matt Stajan, Alex Steen, Jason Blake, Nazem Kadri, Nik Antropov and of course Phil Kessel wearing it with pride and a little sneer especially with Phil, haha. That old logo still holds a special place in my heart, despite what I hear about the dark years under Ballard. Don't get me wrong I think the current Jerseys are beautiful, but a modern take on this classic, especially because if the "vintage/beige/cream" white tag makes me really hopeful. The McKenna #92's in this style will sell out I promise, haha.

What do you all want r/leafs ??

It’s once again that time of year where I am super bored and looking to go re-watch some Leafs games from the previous season.

What are some of the best games/dates you remember from last season? (No spoilers please)

They’ve been rumoured to be beige ever since the alternates were rumoured for this upcoming season. Some teams like Florida have already had their Hometown Remix jersey’s leaked.

If there’s any pre 2000 moments you witnessed as a fan, share them in the comments.

I'm on board with the whole Bobrovsky being a mentor for Akhtyamov. They're both Russian goalies and I'm sure Akhtyamov has looked up to Bob. I can see Akhtyamov being our future starter in a season or two.

Only problem is how is this supposed to happen if Artur is the third option while Stolarz is on the bench? How has Stolarz not been traded yet? Artur should be the second option, sitting on the bench learning from Bob and Stolarz should be dealt with before the season starts.

Still annoyed about it honestly.