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Tavares comes home to his growing family, Leafs seek win in Denver

While yet to clarify if they're short-handed following a rough game in Vegas, Toronto is adding veteran forward from the Marlies.

Published Oct 09, 2026  •  Last updated 1 day ago  •  4 minute read

John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

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John Tavares takes pride in his A-plus attendance, but family comes first.

That’s why the alternate captain is not expected to play Saturday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche, having not missed a Maple Leafs game since the 2024-25 regular season, He flew home after Thursday’s match in Las Vegas to be with wife Aryne, who gave birth to their fourth child, a son named Tucker.

“A 10-pounder,” said gleeful coach Jim Hiller to media at practice in Las Vegas on Friday. “We’ve got ourselves a power forward on the way.”

Nick Paul is expected to move up and take the spot of Tavares between William Nylander and Easton Cowan, though the club summoned winger Miles Wood from the Marlies to meet them in Denver just in case.

“We’ve been aware (Tavares might leave during the three-game southwestern U.S. trip).” Hiller added. “But he wanted to come out and play with his team. (The birth) could’ve been any day.”

On Thursday, Tavares had a shot at winning the shootout against the Vegas Golden Knights, as did a couple of his mates, but the 4-3 loss after dropping a 3-0 lead must be quickly forgotten with a second Western Conference power looming Saturday. The Avs have Nathan MacKinnon and defenceman Cale Makar among others, after the Leafs had their hands full with Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner and the rest of the Golden Knights.

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“(MacKinnon) is similar to Jack, they’re so good at building speed,” said defenceman Jake McCabe. “When they’re in their own end, from their own defensive zone, is almost where they’re most dangerous. You don’t see it coming, so it’s hard to close the gap and get a good stick on them.”

Hiller lamented a late first period letdown and a penalty that slowed the full head of steam Toronto had going against Vegas. But with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky making more than 40 saves, the Leafs closed ranks and hung on for the point through overtime.

During the latter stages, Hiller broke up his top six yet again, putting Auston Matthews and William Nylander together, though Matthews was back with Kirill Marchenko and Jack Roslovic at Friday’s workout. Colton Sissons slid over to take Paul’s spot on the third line with Gavin McKenna, as Benoit Groulx moved up on the right side. Zack MacEwen comes out of the stands to play with centre Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime on the fourth unit.

The 38-year-old Bobrovsky stayed off the ice Friday after being in that shooting gallery, with Anthony Stolarz ready to start against the Avs.

There was good news on the injury front at practice when defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson participated, after leaving Thursday’s game late in regulation when Knights defenceman Jeremy Lauzon shoved him head first to the ice, an un-penalized roughing call.

Nylander said he was not concerned about the frequent line disruptions as Hiller seeks consistency. The coach said he has no trouble finding three or more forwards who get rolling in a game, but getting them on the ice at the same time has proven difficult.

“Sometimes in a game you move stuff around,” Nylander reasoned. “It can get stale in the middle of a game. I played with Matty on and off. I’ve played with John, we play depending on what’s clicking.

“(He and Matthews) started out our careers playing together so we know we have that chemistry.”

Each of the Leafs’ first five games to start the season have been decided by only one goal, a franchise first, but Toronto won just twice. The Leafs know that they let a point get away against Vegas.

“We have to play a full 60 minutes,” understated Paul. “That second period (outshot 21-8 by the Knights) wasn’t out best, we all know that. We’re all NHLers and can’t expect to win a game if we don’t play a full sixty”.

The trip concludes Tuesday in Utah, another team on the rise. There’s a tie there to current Leaf general manager John Chayka when he ran the club at its previous address in Arizona.

The 31-year-old Wood, acquired in the Marchenko trade on the eve of the regular season, is the son of former Leaf Randy Wood. He played 54 games for Columbus last season, traded there with Charlie Coyle by the Avalanche, where he spent a productive 2022-23 season after signing a six-year, $15 million US contract.

Though yet to play for the Marlies, Wood’s nearly 600 NHL games had not included any in the minors since 2016-17 when he broke in as a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils out of Boston College.

The 6-foot-2, left shooting Buffalo, N.Y., native has 99 goals and 97 assists in his NHL career.

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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