- John Tavares is set to return Saturday against the Canadiens after missing nine games
- Rookie Gavin McKenna loses his spot on the top power-play unit
- Read below for what McKenna and Jim Hiller said about the move
John Tavares is back for the Maple Leafs on Saturday.
The 36-year-old is set to play against the Canadiens after missing nine games with a lower-body injury, and his return bumps rookie Gavin McKenna off the top power-play unit. We tracked his path back earlier this week, and Friday’s practice cleared the last hurdle.
Tavares went down on Oct. 15 against Buffalo after a collision with Josh Norris. He practiced in a regular sweater Friday for the first time since, after wearing a red no-contact jersey on Wednesday.
He was asked how it felt to be back with the group.
“It’s the best,” Tavares said. “There’s nothing like getting out there to compete with your teammates and being with the group.”
Hiller said he expects Tavares to go. “I would think most likely he’s going to play,” the coach said Friday. Hiller also said Tavares knew his timeline from a similar injury and was “definitely on schedule, not behind.”
Here’s Tavares skating in a regular sweater at Friday’s practice:
Tavares lined up at left wing with Nick Paul and William Nylander, a spot he played at the World Championship in May. He still takes faceoffs and is winning 60.4 percent of them this season.
Toronto went 5-4-0 without him, and Hiller pointed to O-zone time, puck battles and net-front presence as the problem. Hiller said that is what Tavares does extremely well.
The power-play change is the other side of this. Tavares rejoined the top unit with Auston Matthews, Nylander, Jack Roslovic and Darren Raddysh. McKenna dropped to the second group with Paul, Easton Cowan, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Morgan Rielly.
McKenna had been on the top unit while Tavares was out and scored three power-play goals in that stretch. He was asked how he felt about losing the spot.
“I’m 18. There’s a lot of guys in this team who’ve been in this league for a long time and know how to play power play,” McKenna said. “When you see a guy like John come on and take your spot, you’re not too butthurt about it. … Even being on a second power play in the NHL, that feels pretty good.”
Hiller explained the call this way: “Power play has been pretty good for us this year with Gavin and with John. Not quite as good the last couple games so John’s back, we’ll put John there.” The Leafs went 0-for-4 with the man advantage in their last two games, though they still rank sixth in the league at 28.8 percent.
Catch the full Leafs media availability, with Tavares, McKenna and Hiller all speaking:
McKenna has five goals and 11 points in 17 games, and he spent time on Matthews’ line earlier this season. Tavares has seven points in seven games. Puck drop at Scotiabank Arena is 7 p.m. ET, with Toronto sitting seventh in the Atlantic at 8-7-2.
