An injury to Steven Lorentz has opened the door wide open for Easton Cowan to make his NHL debut on Monday afternoon when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Detroit Red Wings.

With assists on the goals from Bobby McMann and Auston Matthews before adding his own goal in the final seconds, William Nylander now has 15 points in nine career season openers, surpassing Darryl Sittler for the third most in Maple Leafs history.

Expert recap and game analysis of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens NHL game from 9 October 2025 on ESPN (UK).

Montreal Canadiens defensemen Noah Dobson and David Reinbacher left Thursday's 7-2 preseason Habs loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs early.

The main draw will continue to be the top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovský with Lane Hutson dancing at the blue line behind them. All four players looked eager for the season to start during the pre-season when they toyed with their opponents, and now we’ll get to see them when the points mean something.

Another issue that could rear its ugly head, as it did last season, is the durability of goaltender Anthony Stolarz. The 31-year-old agreed to a four-year, $15-million contract extension earlier this month on the strength of an excellent 2024-25 campaign (21-8-3, 2.14 GAA) in which he had the NHL’s best save percentage (.926).