Kevin McGran

2 weeks ago | thespec.com | Kevin McGran

While the future of Mitch Marner and John Tavares will get a great deal of attention because they will be unrestricted free agents this off-season, the Maple Leafs got some good news about Matthew Knies, who emerged this season as a fan favourite and an important player. Knies said he doesn’t want to leave Toronto. “I want to be here. I want to play here,” he said. That’s important because Knies is a restricted free agent July 1, with fewer rights. The team can control his destiny.

2 weeks ago | thespec.com | Kevin McGran

When Keith Pelley took over as chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment a little more than a year ago, his message to fans was: “We’re not here to sell jerseys.”Putting aside the fact that MLSE makes a great deal of money off the sale of Maple Leafs jerseys, Pelley had a bit more to say that sounded so optimistic to a fan base sick of bowing out of the playoffs early. “The fans here not only deserve but demand a championship,” Pelley said.

2 weeks ago | thespec.com | Kevin McGran

This year was supposed to be different. For the Maple Leafs, there was supposed to be a happier ending. It was a different group: bigger, stronger, older. Built for the playoffs. There was a new hope. But it all ended with the same Game 7 disappointment after the Florida Panthers beat the Leafs 6-1 on Sunday night, before a Scotiabank Arena crowd that got more and more restless as the night went on with jerseys tossed on the ice and the team booed and jeered at different points.

2 weeks ago | thespec.com | Kevin McGran

When Mark Scheifele took to the ice on Saturday night for the Winnipeg Jets in Dallas, playing through the grief of his father’s death, he had the hockey world’s attention, admiration and sympathy. “My heart goes out to him and his family,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said before Sunday’s Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. “The courage you show to play that game, and he played well. It’s a terrible situation, you feel for him. But I understand why he played, I really do.

2 weeks ago | thespec.com | Bruce Arthur |Kevin McGran |Braydon Holmyard |Dave Feschuk

It’s a winner-take-all matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers on Sunday night in Game 7 of this second-round playoff series at Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs haven’t made it to the Eastern Conference final since 2002 when they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. The Hurricanes are waiting to meet the winner of Toronto and Florida for Game 1 of the East final on Tuesday.