Nick Blankenburg will make his Toronto Maple Leafs debut on Saturday night as coach Jim Hiller dresses seven defencemen against the high-flying Avalanche.
“He’s been patient,” Hiller said of Blankenburg. “He’s excited. He’s unfortunately had to play this role before, where he’s had to wait at the start of the season, but when he’s got in, he’s played well. [We’re against] his old team, so probably a little extra exciting for him tonight.”
Blankenburg played 12 games for the Avalanche last season. He attended Leafs training camp on a professional tryout before signing a one-year, $1.4-million deal.
“We really wanted to get Nick in,” Hiller said. “He had a good pre-season. Didn’t want to keep him out too long.”
Hiller is also intrigued by the idea of dressing just 11 forwards.
“I can mix more guys around,” the coach said. “If somebody’s having a good night, I can find a little bit more ice time for him, you know, beyond some of the guys that play most of the minutes. So it’s nice to get somebody else, who typically doesn’t play as much, more minutes.”
John Tavares is missing Saturday’s game after returning home to be with his family following the birth of his fourth child.
Miles Wood, called up on Friday, will join Zack MacEwen in the press box as a healthy scratch on Saturday.
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Gavin McKenna is a prime candidate to earn more minutes in Toronto’s 11-forward alignment.
The top pick in the 2026 draft started the week by picking up his first two points, including his first NHL goal, during a wild comeback win over the Nashville Predators in Toronto. In the third period of that game, McKenna was dropped from the second line with Tavares and William Nylander to the third line with Nick Paul and Colton Sissons, which is where he started on Thursday in Las Vegas.
McKenna produced a secondary assist on a goal by Paul in the first period as the Leafs built a 3-0 lead at T-Mobile Arena before ultimately falling in a shootout. During the game, McKenna reached a skating speed of 23.34 mph, the fastest burst by an 18 year old in the NHL’s tracking era (since 2021-22).
“I thought he carried the puck pretty well,” Hiller said. “You know, as much as he scored and made plays against Nashville, I thought he did the same against Vegas. It’s two games in a row like that and you call it the ‘third line,’ but I think he played 15 minutes last game. You know, that was quite a bit. That was more than he had been playing. So, again, he might be one of those guys that finds an extra shift for two tonight. Who knows? Depends who’s going.”
McKenna logged 14 minutes and eight seconds of ice time in his first career road game in Vegas.
With Paul moving up to the second-line centre spot vacated by Tavares, Sissons will move to the middle on the third line. Bo Groulx moved up to skate in the right-wing spot on that line at Friday’s practice.
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During Wednesday’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets, the Avalanche juggled their top six with Nazem Kadri joining Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen on the top unit and Martin Necas dropping down to play with Brock Nelson and Gabriel Landeskog.
Colorado will revert back to the usual formation on Saturday.
“I didn’t want to switch them in the first place, but I just felt in the Winnipeg game Naz was involved in everything,” coach Jared Bednar explained. “He was involved in almost 50 per cent of our scoring chances that night so I elevated him during the game and liked what I saw so I thought I would leave it for the Calgary game. I don’t think our top six had a great game in Calgary.”
The Avalanche are 3-1-0 and lead the league in goals (23), goals per game (5.75) and goal differential (+12).
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The Leafs posted a behind-the-scenes look at McKenna’s big night against the Predators, which showed captain Auston Matthews and McKenna waiting to go back on the ice for the three-star announcements.
“I’m gonna stay for your applause,” second-star Matthews told first-star McKenna. “That’s how (expletive) pumped I am.”
Matthews had invited McKenna to spend the night at his place on Sunday as the captain and the kid continue to build chemistry off the ice.
“I just think the more time we’ve spent together, the more comfortable we’ve gotten, and forming a pretty good relationship so it’s been a blast,” Matthews said. “He’s an incredible person with a great head on his shoulders, and [it was a] really special night for him the other night.”
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The Leafs have been careful not to overload McKenna with too much too soon in his career, and the 164-pound winger did not see a shift in 3-on-3 overtime on Tuesday or Thursday.
“He was up a couple of different times, and situations kind of changed themselves,” Hiller explained. “He’ll get out there sooner or later. Trust me, he’s been called. If you asked him, I probably called him three different times, but for whatever reasons, he hasn’t been able to get out there yet.”
McKenna was fourth up in the shootout on Thursday, but failed to convert on his first career NHL attempt.
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Hiller declined to reveal his starting goalie for Saturday’s game.
“I’m gonna let you wait on that one,” the coach said with a smile. “I gave you so much information. I’m gonna have to let you wait on this one. You guys think I’m just an open book? You get everything. That one we’re gonna have to wait on.”
Sergei Bobrovsky is still looking for his first win with the Leafs (0-2-1) but is coming off his best effort of the season. He stopped 40 of 43 shots to help the Leafs salvage a point in Vegas.
“He was amazing,” said defenceman Darren Raddysh. “I don’t think that game gets to overtime or a shootout without him. He’s been rock solid for us all year, and that’s what you expect from him. I think we can do a better job in front of him and give him a little bit more help.”
Per his usual post-game routine, Bobrovsky stayed off the ice on Friday.
“The recovery is pretty the same,” the 38-year-old said of the heavy workload in Vegas. “You know, you’ve got like a little bit flush, bike, good food, good sleep, that’s the important, and, yeah, ready to go for the next game.”
The Leafs have rotated between Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz to start the season. Stolarz picked up the win against Nashville, but allowed four goals on 25 shots.
“It’s a game you just battle,” Stolarz said. “You know, wasn’t the prettiest game for myself, and kudos to the guys for kind of picking me up, but not every game is going to be a Picasso. You’re going to have those games where you know you have to grind it out, and you’re going to give up three, four, five, six, and you just have to make one one more save than the other guy. So that was my mentality.”
The Avalanche are starting Mackenzie Blackwood in net on Saturday, Bednar confirmed.
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The Maple Leafs saw the Golden Knights storm back to tie it while dominating the second period in Thursday’s loss. Vegas outshot Toronto 21-8 in the middle stanza.
“That second period wasn’t our best and we all know it in here,” said Paul. “And that’s something that, we [have to] come together as a group and find a way to play a full 60 minutes and that’s just looking in the mirror and asking more from every single person.”
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Projected Leafs lineup for Saturday’s game:
Marchenko - Matthews - Roslovic
Cowan - Paul - Nylander
McKenna - Sissons - Groulx
Blueger - Duhaime
McCabe - Raddysh
Rielly - Tanev
Ekman-Larsson - Stecher
Blankenburg