The Leafs need to be all in on Josh Manson should he become available

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Leafs should try and acquire Josh Manson if he is available.
This is a player that has been connected to the team for years now and one that fans have been clamouring because of what Manson brings to a hockey team. He seems to check all the boxes of what the Leafs could use on their blueline: he has good size, has a right shot, plays a physical brand of hockey, and would slot in perfectly on their second pair.
We have heard this story told time and time again but the move never seemed like it could come close to being a reality. On Saturday night, Elliotte Friedman went on HNIC to reveal the news that the Leafs are indeed interested in acquiring his services.
“First of all, [Josh] Manson was injured in our opener today, Ottawa/Anaheim. That’ll be an interesting one to watch just in terms of how long he’s going to be out. He’s an unrestricted free agent to be. There is interest and Toronto was one of the teams believed to be looking at Manson, if he’s interested in coming there.”
When you hear it coming out of the mouth of one of the most trusted NHL insiders, you know this has legs to stand on. The Leafs having a real interest in acquiring the 30-year-old defenceman is an exciting revelation that I’m sure will get the fanbase ecstatic at the possibilities. His contract may be expiring and this could wind up being a rental, but Manson would make the Leafs better so they should kick the tires on him if the Ducks …

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Author: Michael Mazzei / The Leafs Nation

Leafs react to Toronto’s snow day

Well, if you live in Toronto or the GTA, you’ve likely experienced the biggest snowstorm that we’ve seen in a long time today.
It’s being reported that some cities around the Greater Toronto Area could experience up to 60 centimetres of snow. That’s madness.
The blizzard has been so bad that it forced the closures of the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway, so they can assist people stuck on the highway.

HIGHWAY CLOSURES: Due to extreme weather and for the safety of drivers, the @TorontoPolice is temporarily closing the DVP and Gardiner. All ramps will be closed. This is to help move any existing vehicles that are stuck and allow snow plows to clear the routes. ^CdK
— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) January 17, 2022

Slowly and surely, the city has reopened the Gardiner, but as I write this, the DVP is still closed.
But for the Maple Leafs — they still had a practice today. I don’t know how everyone got there, but they somehow did it.

Tavares said the #leafs pretty much had a full team at practice today despite the blizzard that has dumped more than a foot of snow on the city & closed Hiway 401 & the Gardiner Expressway. Said it took almost an hour to clear his driveway this morning. pic.twitter.com/VIw4w2Q9Pj
— Mike Zeisberger (@Zeisberger) January 17, 2022

John Tavares was up early shoveling his driveway. He even had a helper.

Alexander Kerfoot ended up trying to drive to the rink, but he only got so far. After he gave up with his “little car”, the 27-year-old called an Uber.

Alexander Kerfoot and his little car eventually gave up trying to solve the snow and Uber’d to practice.
John Tavares needed over an hour trying to clear a path out of his driveway but pushed through: “Luckily I have …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Now is not Nick Robertson’s time, but it will come

If you’ve been paying attention to the Leafs preseason and training camp (first, congrats, you’re braver than most) you’ve probably noticed that Nick Robertson has been a little on the underwhelming side. That’s not to say he’s been bad, but given his showing in the development camp preceding the Leafs camp the expectations were high, and Robertson didn’t really do enough of anything to establish himself ahead of Ritchie, Bunting, Mikheyev, Kerfoot, or even Engvall or Simmonds. That’s why yesterday’s news didn’t really come as too much of a surprise…

The following players have been assigned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL): F Mikhail AbramovD Joseph DuszakD Noel HoefenmayerD Teemu KivihalmeF Jack KopackaF Jeremy McKennaF Nick Robertson
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 5, 2021

Now the fact that a player that just turned 20 last month failed to make a NHL team isn’t going to be too shocking to most people. At this point Robertson (impressively) has only 6 regular season NHL games, 4 post season NHL games, and 21 AHL games to his name in his professional career. That’s not a ton of pro experience, and him having to put in a bit more work is …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Diversity and inclusion in hockey: How Chanel Keenan and the Kraken are making waves

If you’re like me, you’ve been  excitedly watching the Seattle Kraken prepare to join the league officially. One of the most exciting parts of their establishment has been how openly committed they are to inclusion and diversity. So much so, that one of their first hires was a person responsible for just that. We’re very lucky to have had a chance to speak with Chanel Keenan about her role with the Kraken, and diversity and inclusion in hockey as a whole.
To start, tell us a little about you and your hockey fan experience.
I grew up around the game at a very young age. I am the youngest and only girl in my family. All of my brothers played hockey. However, due to my interests at the time and me having a physical disability prevented me from playing the game. I come from Dorchester, MA, the hometown of Leafs drafted legend Jimmy Hayes. By living in the Boston area, hockey is one of the bigger sports for us.
And explain for our readers who might not be familiar – what is your role with the Kraken? Can you also explain, beyond just the description, what types of …

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Author: Mer / The Leafs Nation

Leafs Prospects Poll: The fastest, strongest, and best of the rest

Leafs Prospects Poll: The fastest, strongest, and best of the rest

So as you’ve probably noticed, The Leafs Nation is in the process of counting down our Top 20 Leafs Prospects. It’s a lot of fun, and in a time when it’s challenging to be excited about or even like the Leafs, the exercise of ranking the best Leafs of the future certainly put us in a good mood, and hopefully while you’ve been reading them so far, seeing players like Woll or Der-Arguchintsev who have some potential to impact players in the NHL ranked so low gives you hope that prospects still to come will justify some optimism about the organization.
That being said, while doing the rankings this year I didn’t want it to be a straight forward just rank the prospects and be done with it approach. I’ve been known to keep things fresh, and this year we did a bit of a poll around some of the prospects as well. Okay, so that’s not exactly fresh or original, but did lead to this supplemental prospect post for you to look at today, so it wasn’t entirely bad.
Here are the nine bonus questions asked of our illustrious panel…
Best Longshot …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Matt Devlin: The Voice of the Toronto Raptors

Matt Devlin: The Voice of the Toronto Raptors

You’ve heard the voice, Raptors fans, now meet the man.  For over a decade, Toronto Raptors history has been recorded in Matt Devlin’s voice. Since 2008, there have been two constants in the Toronto Raptors organization.  Not Kyle Lowry, not DeMar DeRozan, not Dwyane Casey or Nick Nurse or winning, or positive culture. Even the […]
Matt Devlin: The Voice of the Toronto Raptors – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Avishai Sol / Raptors HQ

Toronto Raptors offseason preview: How do they handle free agency?

Toronto Raptors offseason preview: How do they handle free agency?

If you’ve been out of the loop, you’re at the right place for your Toronto Raptors free agency news. The 2020 NBA free agency is upon us. It officially starts on November 20 at 6 pm Eastern time. The Toronto Raptors will have a lot of holes to fill this offseason, and what they do […]
Toronto Raptors offseason preview: How do they handle free agency? – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Alexandro Fidanza / Raptors HQ

Toronto Raptors: Upgrade your viewing experience with a new TV and more

The NBA is nearly back. You’ve been separated from your Toronto Raptors for far too long. So don’t just watch. Watch like a champ with these items. It’s been months since you’ve been able to watch the Toronto Raptors play some basketball. Don’t just settle back into lackluster routine. Watch the Toronto Raptors’ return like […]
Toronto Raptors: Upgrade your viewing experience with a new TV and more – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Nathan Cunningham / Raptors HQ

Highlights of Brendan Shanahan’s interview with James Duthie

If you’ve got 20 minutes and love anecdotes about parenting in the COVID-19 world, by all means, I encourage you to check out the full thing here. If you just want the hockey highlights and some takes on those, let’s have at it below…
“Are the players going stir crazy?”
“Most of the players have returned back to their home. Their places in the offseason.”
Honestly not a huge surprise that a lot of the players have fled their Toronto condos for their offseason homes, and that it’s largely based on where they can train better, as condo gyms are off limits and probably not going to cut it anyway. Being around a good support group will help, and Shanahan notes that the players have been pushing each other to stay in game shape and work on strength training, while Dubas has been the communications point person for Hockey Ops.
“How do you plan for the different scenarios?”
A couple of times in the interview Shanahan dodges the question about what specific scenarios he would prefer for the season resuming. His response is generally to support the format …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

The ultimate Toronto Raptors trivia – from easy to impossible

You’ve just stumbled onto the best Toronto Raptors trivia on the internet. Try your hand at this quiz and see how much you really know about the reigning NBA champions. With the NBA season suspended, there may not be any Toronto Raptors games to watch at the moment but that doesn’t mean that you can’t […]
The ultimate Toronto Raptors trivia – from easy to impossible – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Jeff Borsuk / Raptors HQ