Squaring off with nearly identical records entering Wednesday’s contest, the Toronto Maple Leafs were presented with a key opportunity to get out of a rut against a quality Minnesota Wild team, with a four-game road trip on the horizon before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube details how the team plans to move forward without the injured John Tavares.

John Hynes knows that William Nylander can lead the Maple Leafs out of the little hole they’ve dug for themselves. The Leafs have scored just two goals in losing their past two games, and neither came off the stick of Nylander after the star winger had four goals in the previous three games, all Toronto victories.

The Toronto Maple Leafs called up Fraser Minten from the Toronto Marlies on Thursday morning. Following an injury to John Tavares at practice on Wednesday, it made sense for the club to call up their prospect center who has played in the third-line center spot previously.

Slugging from behind the entire evening, and balanced on the usual mid-season fan revolt, the Toronto Maple Leafs won their first game in more than a week on Thursday. William Nylander scored the overtime goal that put away the New Jersey Devils, led by former Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.

Following a well-attended Tuesday morning practice in Toronto, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided an exciting update on John Tavares and Matthew Knies.

January 17 - William Nylander scored his second goal ... Ekman-Larsson was off for hooking. Toronto put John Tavares (lower-body injury) on injured reserve and activated McCabe, who had sat ...

You can look to John Tavares and Matthew Knies’ imminent returns and hope they can spark the lineup, but this is still a team with Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Offence should not be this difficult and they have the raw talent to at least make games interesting. Tonight was far from it.

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Core Four players, John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner, are not just elite scorers. Together they are four players who, game after game, show a high hockey IQ.

“It can be the most random time in the summer and no matter what, you’ll see 'RR' pop up on your phone,” Nick Robertson said. Every group chat needs an instigator; someone to keep the dialogue alive during low points. On and off the ice, Reaves fills that role.

As Bissonnette explained on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs should pursue the signing of new Carolina Hurricanes forward Mikko Rantanen if he gets to free agency and Toronto lets Mitch Marner walk.

The Maple Leafs are down a trio of important forwards, but recent updates show they could be close to a return at a very crucial point in the season. Though