The Maple Leafs returned to the ice from the All-Star Game break last night, and what a night it was. The Leafs destroyed the Islanders.

Leafs are merciless in a 5-0 rollover of the Islanders - Katya
Two rookie defenders score, as the Leafs show off organizational depth in the best possible way.

Justin Holl made his NHL debut and of course he scored a goal in his first ever NHL game. Travis Dermott scored his first goal too and his number one fan there to see it happen.

Holl was not ranked in our Top 25 Under 25 because he aged out—he turned 26 on Tuesday—but if you are not yet familiar with Dermott then take a look at our consensus evaluation from last summer. We ranked him a respectable 10th out of all players in the Leafs system aged under 25.

There’s no way to say this without sounding cliched: Dermott’s stock went up a lot last night, and the trade deadline is only three weeks away.

I know. I know. But, it has to be mentioned because it’s going to be mentioned out there.

While the Leafs played the New York Islanders in Toronto last night, they noe heading to New York City to play the Rangers tonight. We have a preview of the game here. Puck drop is shortly after 7:00PM EDT.

ICYMI

Women’s Hockey Wednesday: Meet the Olympians! - Annie and Nafio
Also Katie Burt, Victoria Bach, Caroline Ouellette and Meaghan Mikkelson made a mark this week.

Other News

Lightning Acquire Goaltender Pasquale from Edmonton Oilers - Raw Charge
[SPECIES: I think they should have asked for a sixth round pick to balance it out.]

Canucks’ appraisal of ‘Erik the Great’ seems short-sighted - The Province
Tough players have value. But there will be plenty of viable options before next season that won't cost the Canucks $16 million over four years.

The Penguins flipped the switch in January - PensBurgh
A look at how the Penguins became the NHL’s most dominant team again in the month of January.

From The Branches