The day we've all wanted is here. The day we've been waiting with high anticipation since he came to Toronto last year is here. William Nylander will make his Toronto Maple Leafs debut TONIGHT!

Also Kasperi Kapanen, Nikita Soshnikov, Brooks Laich, Connor Carrick, Ben Smith, and Zach Hyman will debut for the Leafs as well. Lots going on today, let's get to the game.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs
7:30PM - Air Canada Centre
TV: TSN4 Radio: Sportsnet
SBN: Raw Charge

Let's compare the two teams tonight before we keep on squee-ing over Nylander.


Toronto Tampa Bay
Record 21-29-10 36-22-4
Division Rank 8th Atlantic 2nd Atlantic
Conference 16th East 4th East
League 30th overall 9th overall
Goals +/- 146/180= -34 173/150= +23
Top Scorer Leo Komarov 18G Steven Stamkos 28G
Top Points Leo Komarov 35pts Steven Stamkos 51pts
Top Goalie Jonathan Bernier .898sv% Ben Bishop .925sv%
Historical vs 49-31-2 31-49-2

The Maple Leafs roster today is vastly different from the one that played the Lightning previously this season. We're getting pre-season game, though the Leafs just barely have enough NHL experience on the roster for this to qualify. They were busy leading up to the deadline, moving out Winnik, Reimer, Polak, and Spaling over the weekend.

The Lightning are holding their own and trying to push for first in the division in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They made no big deadline moves, and are happy with their roster as is for the spring.

Potential Line Ups

Toronto (Morning Skate)

Leo Komarov -Nazem Kadri - P.A. Parenteau
Michael Grabner - William Nylander - Zach Hyman
Colin Greening - Peter Holland - Kasperi Kapanen
Nikita Soshnikov - Ben Smith - Brad Boyes
Extras not skating: Brooks Laich

Matt Hunwick - Morgan Rielly
Jake Gardiner - Frank Corrado
Martin Marincin - Stuart Percy
Extras not skating: Connor Carrick

Garret Sparks
Jonathan Bernier

Injured: Nathan Horton, Stephane Robidas, Joffrey Lupul, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Milan Michalek

Tampa Bay (VIA DailyFaceoff.com)

Alex Killorn - Steven Stamkos - Ryan Callahan
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Cedric Paquette - Valtteri Filppula - J.T. Brown
Brian Boyle - Vladislav Namestnikov - Jonathan Marchessault

Victor Hedman - Anton Stralman
Matt Carle - Andrej Sustr
Nikita Nesterov - Braydon Coburn

Ben Bishop
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Injured: Matthias Ohlund, Jason Garrison

Afternoon Links

Farewell, Brooks Laich - Japers' Rink

PPP Podcast: Trade Deadline Edition - Pension Plan Puppets

New Maple Leaf Brooks Laich: how will he fit in? - Pension Plan Puppets

Who is new Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Connor Carrick? - Pension Plan Puppets

Twitter chatter

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