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Why Maple Leafs and Canadiens will have divided attention in Saturday games

GM John Chayka will need split screen to track his split squads

Published Sep 18, 2026  •  2 minute read

Maple Leafs defenceman Colton Scissons and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky participate at training camp at the Ford Performance Centre in Toronto, Thursday Sept. 17, 2026. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Toronto Sun

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After being starved for hockey the past five months, the Maple Leafs and their fans will dine on a 2-for-1 Saturday night special.

But general manager John Chayka will need a split screen to track his split squads against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena and the Bell Centre.

While lineups for both teams won’t be released until Saturday morning, they’ll follow the general NHL exhibition formula of the home team’s best versus the visitors’ training camp hopefuls.

For the Leafs, that means the likely debut of No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna on a line with centre John Tavares and William Nylander and the first look at a potential first unit of Auston Matthews between Matthew Knies and newcomer Jack Roslovic.

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Major summer signing Sergei Bobrovsky is scheduled to start in net, says head coach Jim Hiller, with an undetermined timeline for him, while it’s also the soft launch of defenceman Darren Raddysh. While Morgan Rielly was back on the blueline Friday during the second day of training camp as he recovers from a viral infection, he is expected to continue a measured approach to the season opener.

In Montreal, incoming Leaf associate coach Daniel Alfredsson will get to run his own show. His 20 starters will skate separately from the SBA group and fly out early Saturday afternoon. Team Alfie is likely to be heavy on Toronto Marlies and draft picks, though they’ll have Anthony Stolarz or Calder Cup hero Artur Akhtyamov as part of the goalie tandem.

The evening will cover two of Toronto’s scant four-game pre-season schedule, with another double header Wednesday night against Ottawa. Toronto begins regular season play against the Canadiens at SBA on Sept. 29 in the league’s extended 84-game schedule.

lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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