Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!

It’s the start of week one of the 2020 Top 25 Maple Leafs under 25 and what a list we have for you! Eight years ago when this all started it was fairly simple. List the Maple Leafs players/prospects under 25 and have people vote. The size of the voting list grew and shrunk, some of us were just wee commenters back then, and there were always odd choices:

T25U25 summary: nine lists of mostly good guesses

If you missed out on all the announcements last week let me summarize it for you:

First we laird out all the players who were eligible:

T25U25: Who is on the eligibility list?

Then, we held the community vote (now closed) and had the official vote:

Our PPP Voting Team for the 2020 Top 25 Under 25

Last week we revealed the players who no one liked, and those who got a couple votes here and there:

Top 25 Under 25: Some shocking results in the honourable mentions in 2020
T25U25: The 2020 Unranked

Some of us made pitches to support the players that were left off the list:

2020 Top 25 Under 25: The case for the 5th-round pick
Top 25 Under 25: The Case For Michael Koster and Kalle Loponen

Now we’re here, ready to reveal who is #25 on the list later today.

While we were busy doing that, some others made some news:

Connor Brown poke about being traded to the Ottawa Senators:

Quick Shifts: Connor Brown opens up about Maple Leafs trade

Sportsnet put out a highlight package of Auston Matthews, which, thank you I forgot how good he looked out there.

Patrick Marleau has only good things to say about Mitch Marner:

Marner 'amazes me,' Marleau says of former Maple Leafs teammate

Yesterday was the two year anniversary of the Toronto Marlies winning the Calder Cup:

Did the Maple Leafs ever ice a full line up?

Were the Maple Leafs ever at full capacity this season?

Youppi! Was entered into the Mascot Hall of Fame for his work with the Expos and Canadiens:

Youppi!, mascot for Habs, Expos, enters Mascot Hall of Fame | CBC Sports

Some background work needs to be done for players who are on their way back:

NHL players who need visa extensions, such as Ilya Samsonov, are being ‘strongly encouraged’ to return by June 21

I really hope they don’t use fake crowd noises on TV. Lemma hear those swears! Or, do what AEW did for crowd-less wrestling and get teams who aren’t on the ice to heckle the ones who are.

Playing in empty arenas, it'll be up to NHL players to bring the noise | CBC Sports

Finally, Edmonton is handling the fact that no one wants to go there just fine.

From The Branches