Maple Leafs Practice Report: Nick Paul Centers Second Line As John Tavares Welcomes Baby Boy And A Defensive Shuffle Ahead of Avalanche Matchup

LAS VEGAS — John Tavares left the Toronto Maple Leafs’ road trip late Thursday night to return home for the birth of his third child. Head coach Jim Hiller confirmed Friday that the captain is not expected back for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.

“John is a proud father again,” Hiller said. “Tucker Tavares, a ten-ten pounder. So we got ourselves a power forward on the way.”

Tavares had been aware the birth could come at any time but chose to stay with the team as long as possible. 

“He came out, wanted to play with his team, and headed back,” Hiller said. “I don’t know exactly [when he’ll return]. We’ll see how things go at home.”

With Tavares unavailable, Nick Paul centered William Nylander and Easton Cowan at practice. Hiller pointed to the club’s center depth as a clear advantage. 

“The luxury of being able to have extra centers or centers that can slide in,” he said. “Paulie and [Colton] Sissons on the same line. We lose John, we have him to be able to slide in. I’m just thankful for the depth that we have in the center position.”

Hiller added that Paul and Sissons have formed a solid two-way pairing so far, whether flanking Gavin McKenna or Cowan. 

“They’ve been solid defensively and been a dangerous offensive line,” he said. “Both he and Sissons, they’re solid two-way players, but there’s offense there too. So playing with Nylander and Cowan, I think that can be a good offensive line as well.”

Nylander, who had some reps with Paul on Friday, liked what he saw. 

“I think it was clicking pretty good,” Nylander said. “I haven’t played with him yet, but I know what he’s done in Tampa. I’ve seen him in the first couple of games here with us. I love the way he plays the game. I think it’ll be a lot of fun. Just his overall competitiveness. We played both sides of the puck. Size, too. Just a very dependable guy.”

Paul described his approach as unchanged. 

“I think I just play the same way. Obviously when plays are there to be made, make them, but for me it’s just hard forecheck, turn pucks over and get into their hands and in around the net. So nothing really changes from my game.”

He also noted the team’s skill level makes his game simpler. 

“The biggest thing here is you skate with some pace and move your legs, good things happen because there’s a lot of skill around here. So if you create some room and win some battles, take it to the net. There’s a lot of guys here that can finish.”

Bobrovsky Takes Maintenance Day After Vegas Workload

Sergei Bobrovsky was kept off the ice Friday, a decision Hiller attributed to the veteran’s established routine after facing a heavy volume of shots (40 saves) in Thursday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. 

“I think he has a bit of a routine,” Hiller said. “Typically you’ll see him take a break. There might be a time or two that he goes on, but I think when he plays, we like to kind of give him a rest. He’s kind of worked his way through his long career to find out what works best for him, and we just support that.”

Teammates were quick to credit Bobrovsky for stealing a point. Jake McCabe highlighted several key saves.

“Especially on that PK. A lot of huge saves. Multiple PKs, but backdoor glove save, bailing me out. It’s really nice to have both of them back there. Got all the confidence in the world, both of them,” McCabe said of Bobrovsky.

Darren Raddysh went further. 

“He was amazing. I don’t think that game gets overtime or 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.”

Anthony Stolarz, who observed from the bench, echoed the praise. 

“I thought it was phenomenal. He made a lot of big saves, kept us in it in that second period. Calm, cool, collected. That’s something that he does a lot. For us to be able to get a point out of that was all on him.”

Stolarz also addressed the tandem’s long-term management. He noted that director of sports science Andy O’Brien has implemented individualized conditioning programs. 

“Andy and his staff have done a great job kind of getting us in shape, and they have a great program for everyone,” Stolarz said. “Each guy’s an individualized program, so that’s something that we haven’t had in past years. That I think has helped us a lot.”

Stolarz, who has battled injury issues throughout his NHL tenure, said the approach gives him confidence regardless of workload. 

“Just the same way that I approach any other year. Taking it day by day. You’re not looking too far ahead. Just worry about practice. When the game comes, just kind of dial it in and be ready to go.”

Full 60-Minute Effort Remains the Focus

Several players pointed to the second-period collapse against Vegas, when a 3-0 lead evaporated, as the clearest area for improvement. 

“I think we just got to play a full 60 (minutes),” Paul said. “That second period wasn’t our best, and we all know it in here. That’s something that we come together as a group, and we find a way to play a full 60 minutes, and let’s just look in the mirror and ask more from every single person.”

Nylander focused on the positives while acknowledging the lapse. 

“Obviously it was a tough, great start, but then tough to give up those three goals,” he said. “But later on in the game, still battled, keep it 3-3, and had chances to score as well. So we want to maybe keep those first 10 minutes in our minds and maybe kind of forget about the rest and move on.”

Hiller framed the issue as a collective disruption rather than isolated breakdowns. 

“Give up the goal, which was a terrible time to give up a goal. You’re up three nothing. You’re on o-zone faceoff, and then a penalty, and then penalty,” he said. “Just takes you out of the rhythm of your five-on-five game, and they give them momentum. Even though our penalty kill held them, but it just really disrupts everything. And we just never really recovered until we got back up in the third.”

Line Juggling and Defensive Adjustments Ahead of MacKinnon

Hiller explained the decision to start Auston Matthews and Nylander apart before reuniting them later in games as part of a broader effort to build chemistry across the roster. 

“We’re just trying to find our way,” he said. “We know what they can do together. Typically, they played a lot when I was here. They played together all the time, and so we always know that’s a go-to. But we want to try to find some more chemistry with some other guys. And if those things don’t work, then we’ll probably lean more on them.”

Nylander said the long history between him and Matthews makes the switches seamless. 

“Sometimes in the game, you just move stuff around. If stuff gets maybe a little stale, maybe not a lot of stuff is happening,” he said. “I play with Matty on and off our entire time here. We all played together before and played with John. I think we can all play together just depending on what’s clicking. It’s great. I think we started our careers playing together. We know we have that chemistry there.”

Defensively, the Avalanche present a distinct challenge. Hiller noted Colorado’s unique style and the skating ability of their blue line. 

“A really dynamic rush team. The defense probably skate as well as six as any other group in the league,” he said. “It presents some challenges defensively for sure. For us, I think we got to continue to focus on being in the offensive zone and tight support. We’ve seen some good strides that way, and that’s the best defense really. If you can just hold on to pucks and be dangerous and tire people out.”

McCabe compared Nathan MacKinnon’s threat level to what the Leafs faced against Jack Eichel the night before. 

“With Eichs, you know they’re so good at building speed. Especially even, you gotta really be intent paying attention, and when they’re in their own end, really from their own D-zone is almost where they’re most dangerous sometimes. It sounds silly, but when they build that speed and you don’t see it coming, they get that puck in the middle of the ice, it’s pretty hard to close the gap and get a good stick on them or slow them down. So just be very mindful when he’s out there and when he’s building that speed, trying to get above them and eliminate his time and space as best you can,” McCabe said.

Nylander called the matchup fun but demanding. 

“He’s one of the league’s best players. The speed that he has and his shiftiness and all over the ice. He can shoot, can pass, can do everything. So it’s always fun to go up and play against the top players.”

McCabe, Marner Share Laugh Over Hit; Raddysh Blast Confirmed As Defense Gets Shuffled

McCabe also addressed the physical sequence involving former teammate Mitch Marner in the Vegas game. 

This elicited quite the grin from the veteran defenseman.

“We talked last night,” McCabe said. “I told him it took me 12 years and I can finally catch him now. He’s not very easy to catch out there. No, we had a good laugh about it. I love Mitchie to death.”

Nylander, who was on the opposite side of the bench, offered a light take. 

“You don’t usually see Mitch get hit,” he said. “Maybe he was just relaxing because he thought he wasn’t going to get hit. That’s probably what happened. But I actually didn’t see it because I was sitting on the side of the bench where I didn’t see what happened. I just heard a ‘ooh.’ But that was fun to see.”

Raddysh’s heavy point shot that produced a goal was officially credited with a deflection off Paul. Raddysh initially doubted it until evidence appeared. 

“I didn’t until I saw the black mark on his socks. So I’ll give him that one,” Raddysh said. “Yeah, it definitely hit him, but we’ll give it to him.”

Paul confirmed the contact. 

“Yeah, it just nicked me, honestly,” he said. “Trust me, I’ve eaten a lot of his, especially in practice. It’s not fun, especially when they get to you above the shin pad. But on those, if you’re taking the goalie’s eyes away, you kind of get skinny as soon as it’s hit and make that goalie try and choose a side and hopefully it’s the wrong side.”

McCabe said he has enjoyed the early returns with Raddysh.

“A great puck mover. He’s got a heavy shot, obviously. Tried to feed him as much as we can in the offensive zone to get the shot off. Obviously produced a goal for us last night. Just the presence of it is huge, and he plays hard. He plays really good defense. Got a good stick. Very competitive.”

The Leafs practiced with a different look on the back end, moving Raddysh alongside McCabe, while Chris Tanev moved to play alongside Morgan Rielly.

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