Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made their first official decision as they look to return shortly from the Olympic break, as practices are set to resume.
Although the 2026 Olympics are still about a week away from finishing, the rest of the NHL is getting prepared to return to the ice to resume the schedule towards the end of February.
Toronto schedules first practice ahead of return from Olympics
Speaking of Nylander, his NHL team is getting ready to get back to business after a well deserved (and needed) break to give their injured and banged up players enough rest, and the Maple Leafs have a lot of pressure coming out of the break.
It seems like they aren’t waiting around to make things happen, as it was reported by Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun that the team is scheduled to have their first practice on Tuesday as they look to get ready to come back:
Non-Olympic Leafs will be start gathering for practices tomorrow. First post-break games Feb. 25-26 in Tampa and Sunrise.
It’s a little bit of a tough swing coming out of the break as Toronto has to face both Tampa Bay and Florida but after that, it seems like things are going to get a little bit easier.
Toronto needs their Olympians to come back strong with critical schedule looming
They are going to need their Olympians to come back and use the momentum they’ve gained to help lead the team. While Nylander has had some struggles to stay healthy and Sweden has looked weaker than usual — he’s still been solid.
But it’s Auston Matthews that is really turning heads, as he sits fifth in scoring and has a chance to finish with a strong performance that ends with him draped in gold. If he comes back and shows that dominance in the regular season then the Maple Leafs will be in good hands.
We’ll get to see how the rest of the team looks as they take the ice on Tuesday, and we can hope they look refreshed, healthy, and motivated to get things going again.
One thing is clear though — Maple Leafs hockey is almost back, and it might be as intense as ever.
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Maple Leafs make their return plans official during the Olympic break
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