The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their 2025-26 preseason with another date against their rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. This is the first of two meetings for them in the preseason, with the second one set for Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Related: 3 Big Questions for the Maple Leafs Heading Into Preseason Game 3
The Maple Leafs are coming off a game where they played a ton of their regulars. Tonight, the projected lineup consists of more fringe players. The Canadiens are dressing a group that will bring plenty of physicality, which makes me wonder if there will be a few fights, considering who is being dressed.
Maple Leafs News
Surprisingly, the Maple Leafs are yet to make any significant cuts to their roster. However, with just two weeks left in training camp, there likely will be some soon. The first round of cuts is typically the players returning to junior, which we’ve already seen with their previous roster moves. The second round will consist of more AHL-calibre players, who will then take part in the Toronto Marlies’ training camp.
Maple Leafs fans won’t see cuts involving players like Easton Cowan and Ben Danford until closer to the start of the regular season. It appears they’re going to get an extended look. There are also some question marks looming around what’s going to happen with the forward group over the next few weeks. Hopefully, there are answers coming within the next week so fans can get a better idea of what the roster will look like.
On the injury front, Simon Benoit remains sidelined with an upper-body injury. However, he is expected to start skating tomorrow. Head coach Craig Berube said, “It shouldn’t be long” before he’s back with the group. William Nylander was absent from practice, but Berube said it was just for maintenance. Max Domi, who was away from the team following the passing of his grandfather, returned and was skating on the top line alongside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies at practice today.
Simon Benoit, Toronto Maple Leafs (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Lastly, Joseph Woll is still away from the team, as mentioned in the last game day preview. There has been no update on his timeline.
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Steven Lorentz – Scott Laughton – Easton Cowan
Bobby McMann – David Kampf – Mattias Maccelli
Dakota Joshua – Jacob Quillan – Vinni Lettieri
Michael Pezzetta – Bo Groulx – Ryan Tverberg
Dakota Mermis – Philippe Myers
Marshall Rifai – Henry Thrun
Cade Webber – Matt Benning
William Villeneuve
Dennis Hildeby
Vyacheslav Peksa
Montreal Canadiens
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovský
Patrick Laine – Kirby Dach – Ivan Demidov
Joshua Roy – Vinzenz Rohrer – Filip Mešár
Luke Tuch – Florian Xhekaj – Jared Davidson
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Kaiden Guhle – David Reinbacher
Ryan O’Rourke – Nate Clurman
Samuel Montembeault
Jacob Fowler
Puck drop is set for 7:00 tonight. As mentioned above, this could be a very physical game. The Canadiens are dressing both Xhekaj brothers, who are known to throw their weight around. The Maple Leafs are dressing former Canadiens forward Pezzetta, who isn’t afraid to drop the gloves. Toronto also has some heavier players in the lineup like Joshua and Myers. Which should make for a fun preseason game to watch between the bitter rivals.
This preseason, NHL fans have seen a ton of fights, which is always entertaining to watch. As we get closer to the start of the regular season, that should die down. Right now, everyone is trying to earn a spot, and that brings a lot of competitiveness. That often leads to a chippy, physical game and punches being thrown. That’s likely to be the case tonight, but only time will tell.
