This is almost the worst part of the off-season. It’s not quite the home stretch, we haven’t even gotten to any rookie tournaments. No major moves or signings are happening (although we’d really like them to!), and we’ve talked prospects to death. These are the dog days of the off-season.

So let’s lean into that and talk about dogs. Specifically, the goodest dogs belonging to the goodest hockey players (the Leafs, of course). I therefore present the inaugural Top Toronto Maple Leaf Dog Rankings.

Muzzin comes in strong with four dogs: Lulu, Lilly, Daryl and Hero.

Kasimir Kaskisuo with OMG A HUSKY AND AN AUSSIE AND IS THAT AN AKITA??? Say hellow to Sisu, Nukka and Chief. Side note: a Finnish guy naming his dog Sisu is the most Finnish thing ever.

Auston Matthews surprises Nala with his mustache. 13/10 would surprise again.

As a defenseman, new Leaf Jordan Schmaltz is charged to protecc this little cutie.

The Tavareses went hard in on the curls with Charlie and Bo.

I know Petan is from BC but he seems to have adopted a small bear and called it Tiger.

Trevor Moore’s dog is bigger than he is lol

I regret to inform you that I made a big mistake not ranking Gauthier higher in light of Stella.

Rielly with three entries, one for this smiley boi (and Rielly’s tight-tight pants)...

...and another, of course, for Maggie...

View this post on Instagram

#maggie #love

A post shared by @ morganrielly on

...and lastly, for his bestest boi, Jake. If found, please return Jakey to his owner.

Finally, we end with Dermott’s precious little pup SHE’S SO CUUUUUUTE.

RANKINGS:

They’re all 15/10 good dogs and are #1. But the real winners are we fans who get to share in their cutness.

Maple Leafs Announce Prospect Roster for Traverse City (updated with more rosters) | by Katya

Quick Shifts: Don’t wait for Mitch Marner to be the first domino | by Luke Fox at Sportsnet

Marner and his dog were not included but will be ONCE HE SIGNS A CONTRACT! anyways here’s Kapanen continuing to troll his teammates.

(so you don’t have to click through)

It’s September, so it’s time to get hyped!

Former Leaf Carter Ashton did a thing in the KHL, in case you were wondering what happened to him.

AROUND THE HOCKEY WORLD

Dom Luszczyszyn at The Athletic has started his 2019-20 NHL Season Previews, starting with the teams he predicts will finish at the bottom and working his way up (lol SNES).

Justin Williams announced that he is not retiring, but stepping away from hockey at least to start the year. Also known as the Mats Sundin maneuver.

News of the state of the AHL CBA has gone a bit under the radar in the wake of the news surrounding the NHL CBA.

From The Branches