In case you didn’t notice, 2024 passed without a Stanley Cup parade in Toronto.
Not to say the year lacked headlines, starting with Auston Matthews in the big tent all-star game, ending with him in the medical tent. There were lots of stories for the 12 months in between:
JANUARY
RECORD: 8-4-1
RECAP: Maddeningly inconsistent Toronto swept its California trip, then drop four straight at home …William Nylander signed an eight-year, $92 million US extension, ending months of speculation … From an outstanding first season in the Leafs’ crease in ‘22-23, Ilya Samsonov flatlined, was sent home cleared NHL waivers and needed a farm team kick in the goalie pants … Keith Pelley was named new president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
FEBRUARY
RECORD: 9-3-0
RECAP: Toronto hosted the NHL all-star game for the first time since 2000, with Matthews, Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly all nominated, then drafted onto the same team by celebrity manager Justin Bieber … Fellow GM Michael Buble claimed to be on magic mushrooms at one event, but thankfully, the skills contest didn’t morph into the travesty American host cities had made it … Skills’ winner Connor McDavid collected $1 million US, then his side lost the same prize money to 3-on-3 tourney MVP Matthews’ squad in the final … Rielly was suspended for hammering showboat Senator Ridly Greig after his empty net clapper … The Leafs’ seven-game win streak was a 20-year high and included Sheldon Keefe getting to 200 wins faster than any Toronto coach.
MARCH
RECORD: 8-4-1
RECAP: The Leafs retained defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin in a trade, but a concussion suffered by Mark Giordano was the beginning of the end of the popular hometown veteran’s career … A week later at the actual trade deadline, the first for new GM Brad Treliving, he added defenceman Joel Edmundson and forward Connor Dewar … The Leafs kept causing rampant speculation with vagueness on injuries, Marner’s high ankle sprain became a hot-button topic … Nylander reached 40 goals, but fell one shy of countryman Mats Sundin’s best of 41.
APRIL
RECORD: 4-4-1
PLAYOFFS: 3-4
RECAP: Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy with 69 goals and Keefe became the first Toronto coach to supervise three-straight 100-point seasons … But that euphoria turned to anger when the Leafs crashed out in the first round for the seventh time in eight years … The injury bug followed them into playoffs, Matthews and Nylander missing time with mystery ailments and injuries, while a healthy Marner played every game, only to manage three points … Samsonov, the team’s Masterton Trophy nominee, gave up David Pastrnak’s Game 7 overtime winner in Boston in what was his final game in Blue and White.
MAY
RECAP: Keefe was canned and made a gracious exit, then snapped up by the New Jersey Devils … Pelley officially took over, talking of changes, but elected to keep Brendan Shanahan as president after 10 years and one playoff series win. That, and the public scorn heaped on Marner for his playoff performance in a contract year made for a rough patch, amid calls for Marner to waive his no-trade clause … In his first coaching hire, Treliving turned to former Leaf and Cup-winning coach Craig Berube, who met with Marner and other Leafs straight away.
JUNE
Forward Easton Cowan, the club’s top pick in 2023, capped a marvellous season with the London Knights as OHL MVP, but his team lost in the Memorial Cup final … At the NHL draft, the Leafs selected Oshawa Generals defenceman Ben Danford 31st overall and with the 225th and last pick of Day 2, defenceman Nathan Mayes of Spokane … The rights to defenceman Chris Tanev were acquired from Dallas ahead of free agent shopping as Treliving began rebuilding the defence.
JULY
RECAP: Tanev was signed and Oliver Ekman-Larsson joined on the first day of UFA action, followed by Philippe Myers … OEL and goaltender Anthony Stolarz were still hung over from the Florida Panthers’ Cup parade when they signed … The club lost head of amateur scouting Wes Clark to former GM Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh, hiring Mark Leach as his replacement … Toronto officially ended its affiliation with the St. John’s, Nfld.-based Growlers, moving its ECHL farm team to Cincinnati … Cowan and 2022’s top pick Fraser Minten clicked at development camp.
AUGUST
RECAP: After being Leaf captain since returning to his hometown team in 2018, John Tavares ceded the ‘C’ to Matthews, the 26th to wear it in team history, Tavares insisting he wasn’t pressured into the move … Free agent winger Alex Nylander turned down interest from other NHL teams to sign an AHL deal with the cap-strapped Leafs in hopes of joining his brother in the ‘24-25 season … Lord Edward Stanley, great-great-great grandson of the Cup’s namesake, visited the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and bought a Leaf sweater, hoping it might bring them luck.
SEPTEMBER
Berube’s first camp was a sweat shop: “I’m not here to take the sticks out of these guys hands, but there has to be an identity in how we want to play,” he said. “We want to play a north-south game, be hard to play against, but at the same time, we have guys who can score” … Danford and Minten suffered rookie training camp injuries … The signing of UFA defenceman Jani Hakanpaa, another delay caused by injury, was finalized … Forwards Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz signed professional tryout contracts and eventually made the team … Sundin dropped by training camp, William Nylander debuted on a new Prime network documentary.
OCTOBER
RECORD: 6-4-1
RECAP: Five players were moved to injured reserve, including Dewar, Calle Jarnkrok and Hakanpaa and two demotions were needed to make the Leafs cap compliant for opening night … Oft-injured goalie Joseph Woll had to go on IR as regular season began … A 3-for-32 power play did not reflect well on new assistant coach Marc Savard … The Leafs were blanked on 48 shots in the opener in Montreal, then won their next three … Defenceman Jake McCabe signed a new five-year deal … Seldom-used blueliner Timothy Liljegren was traded to San Jose … Rielly played in his 800th NHL game.
NOVEMBER
RECORD: 8-3-1
RECAP: Matthews went out of the lineup after a Nov. 3 game in Minnesota, a hazy “day-to-day” designation by Berube and Treliving with an upper body injury, that later involved his top-secret flight to Munich, Germany to see a specialist … But the club continued to win without him, led by Nylander, Marner, Tavares, a strong 5-on-5 defence and a five-game win streak by Woll … Tanev moved to the top of the league in shot blocks … Ryan Reaves was slapped with a five-game suspension for a check to the head of Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse.
DECEMBER
RECORD TO DATE: 8-6-0
RECAP: Matthews returned to get six goals and six assists in 10 games, but the recurring injury, believed to be back-related has now sidelined him a further four matches … After taking the league lead with a .927 save percentage, Stolarz went out of the lineup four to six weeks with minor knee surgery … Goalie Matt Murray won his first game in nearly a year and a half following 2023 bilateral hip surgery … Winger Max Domi endured a career-worst 22-game goal slump before his first of the year … Alex Nylander was up for a bit, didn’t click, cleared waivers and returned to the Marlies … Cowan was picked again for Canada’s world junior team.
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