So this happened:

Ken Bone 4 prez

A photo posted by Auston Matthews (@auston_matthews) on

Auston Matthews is old enough to vote in the upcoming US presidential election, but will he make the right choice? Seems to me like he’s undecided!

Leafs News

ICYMI: Kapanen and Leipsic the newest stars for still-dominant Marlies | Scotty Wheeler — If you ducked out of the Marlies game early, you missed a good one.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Brown needs a line change or a Marlies reunion | Editor in Leaf — “I’m not saying Martin and Holland have been as disastrous as I’d expected, but they just don’t suit a player like Connor Brown.”

Leafs could make this our kind of town: Feschuk | Toronto Star — Feschuk dreams of Cubs-like euphoria in Toronto

Maple Leafs keeping Auston Matthews in good hands | Toronto Sun — “So, for those hours when the team is off on its own, such as the past week’s road trip, the club wants to make sure Matthews is getting proper direction.” I’m not sure what I think about this, Leafs.

Maple Leafs Need To Improve Defense | THW — We’ve all heard the phrase, “build from the net outward,” right? Leafs haven’t really done this yet. So why is it a surprise that they need to improve defense?

Coach’s Corner: Leafs losing because of ‘lousy’ goaltending | SN — “When Cherry brings up the frustrating Swedish goalie from his coaching days with the Colorado Rockies, you know he’s hot.”

Non-Leafs News

NHL considering West Point, Notre Dame for future outdoor games | Puck Daddy — Cool.

Devils dedicate statue to goaltender Martin Brodeur | AP —  "There's no regret in what I've accomplished in my career. When you retire and you don't play the game you kind of understand that you sometimes take things for granted because the day-to-day life with games and travel, you really don't stop to thank people and enjoy yourself as much as you should."

Walking Wounded: The NHL’s Silent Assassin | THW — Another concussion article. “The concussion issue has become so mainstream that even a United States Senator called out Gary Bettman for denying the link between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).”

Jagr: A Ref's View on the Pele of Hockey | Hockey Buzz — “It's not like Jaromir and I are buddies who socialized off the ice or kept in touch after I retired from the ice. Hell, if we were pals, I'd have asked him back in my single days to send me the phone numbers of a few of his old European supermodel girlfriends (haha).”

Ryan Strome scored on brother Dylan and mom had no idea how to react | SBNation — This is me tomorrow when the Leafs play the Bolts.

Devils Bucking Early Season Trends | In Lou We Trust — The Devils are still basically the Devils.

Aaron Ekblad contract ‘set the bar way too high’ for defencemen | SN — Autoplay warning. "I spoke to one GM today, he told me the sore point with defence contracts is Aaron Ekblad and why they paid such a steep price to re-sign him when they even had alleviation through state tax. They say it screwed up a lot of contracts moving forward. It set the bar way too high for some of these guys, including Lindholm."

From The Branches