Preseason done right:
Preseason Schedule 📆
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 8, 2026
Ticket on sale July 23, 2026
Two day, two split-squad games. Times to be announced at a later date. I am here for this very limited run of fake games.
.@TheAHL has announced the 2026-27 home openers for all 32 teams. The full schedule will be unveiled on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/rcFaLbtpUv
— AHL Communications (@AHLPR) July 8, 2026
Toronto opens against Hamilton on October 3, and Hamilton opens against Toronto on October 9.
Alfredsson's media availability confirms that he interviewed for the head-coaching job because his contract was up at the end of June in Ottawa and he wanted more opportunity. The Senators granted him permission to do that earlier interview.
Alfredsson is going to have some input on the power play, and as Lance Hornby reported:
While the new-look staff’s roles aren’t settled yet according to Alfredsson, he will share some of the critical power-play duties with Hiller and the offence in general.
Both specialized in the man advantage in their playing days, Alfredsson obviously a lot more with 428 points, ranking 48th in National Hockey League power play history. Ottawa was eighth in the league in regular season at 24% success, while the Leafs struggled until assistant Marc Savard was fired in December.
Alfredsson also discussed the Leafs problems last season, and suggested some of the problem was a loss in confidence. When I looked at the power play at the time Savard was fired, my conclusion was that part of their problem was just a low Shooting % that would fix itself if you wait long enough, but the bigger problem was an overall very low shot rate. So yes, it needs some work, but some of that low shot rate might well have been indecision or The Malaise that seemed to affect everyone's thinking speed.
Bottom line, they should be one of the best teams in the league on the power play, and more importantly they need to be.
The staff is almost sorted, but no mention was made of Steve Sullivan, who ran the power play after the firing of Savard, in yesterday's big announcement. Speculation has him taking over the Marlies, but that is not confirmed.
In other news:
Derek Lalonde se joint bel et bien au groupe d’entraîneurs des @CanadiensMTL @EricEngels est le premier à avoir sorti la nouvelle. @TVASports
— Renaud Lavoie (@RLavoieTVA) July 9, 2026
Our leader. Our pulse.
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) July 9, 2026
Congratulations to Logan Shaw on being named the 2025-26 recipient of the David Andrews Award of Excellence 👏 pic.twitter.com/puqgbqeKbW
Injury Update on Connor Bedard ❤️ pic.twitter.com/v1SXNAdSp8
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 8, 2026
Hi Dan, I wasn’t criticizing you, merely reporting a fact that you called team to team to solicit an offer sheet for your client. #YouGetAGoldStar Did I strike a nerve? By the way, I never knew that you could be considered a best selling author by self publishing. Bravo! 😉
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 9, 2026
The NHL is changing:
One thing I've noticed is how weird/fun it is that Nashville is now "one of us" and also that we are back to being "us".
“It’s less and less about ‘Did you play?’ and more and more about ‘Can you think?"@JeffMarek discusses how successful NHL front offices are evolving and becoming more open-minded. pic.twitter.com/9dkzhBNlCx
— The Sheet with Jeff Marek (@thesheethockey) July 9, 2026
And that's it for today, have a great day everyone.
