Kirill Marchenko will make his Toronto Maple Leafs debut tonight, and the Canadiens are waiting in the season opener.
Leafslatest had the news Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before puck drop. "It's time," the post read, and for once the caps lock felt earned.
It tops off a busy day on the Toronto roster. Earlier Tuesday, GM John Chayka said he apologized to Matthew Knies, who is headed to Columbus.
The graphic that ran with the news shows No. 86 on a blue Leafs helmet, a Bauer logo across the brow and a grin behind the visor.
Throwing a new face straight into an opener against Montreal is the right kind of aggressive. If he's in the plans, there's no point easing him in.
Where does he fit? The Leafs already pay Auston Matthews $13,250,000 and William Nylander $11,500,000, so the spotlight won't be all his.
It's the new hire whose first day happens to be the biggest client meeting of the year. No orientation, just a seat at the table.
Kirill Marchenko to make Maple Leafs debut against Canadiens tonight
TVA Sports insider Renaud Lavoie laid out the goalie matchup earlier Tuesday, with Jakub Dobes for Montreal and Sergei Bobrovsky for Toronto.
Jim Hiller coaches his first regular-season game since the Leafs hired him in June, and Marchenko is now a name on that first lineup card.
Across the ice, Martin St-Louis has run the Montreal bench since February 2022. His group rolled through the preseason at 4-1-0.
The Leafs went 2-1-1 in exhibition play and haven't played since a 4-2 win in Ottawa last Wednesday.
The Canadiens' final tune-up came in that same building, a 4-3 loss in Ottawa last Saturday.
It's the first of four meetings with Montreal this season, and the next one comes back to Toronto on November 7.
After tonight, the Leafs host Ottawa and new captain Thomas Chabot on Saturday, then Nashville next Tuesday before heading west to Vegas.
Opening-night debuts against Montreal tend to become stories people retell or ones they quietly forget. Marchenko gets to pick which, starting at puck drop.
Will Kirill Marchenko make an impact in his Leafs debut against the Canadiens tonight?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Nobody saw this Connor Hellebuyck trade twist coming
