Patrick Kane is back in Chicago, and he’s already trying to pull Jonathan Toews into the picture too.
On Pardon My Take this week, Kane said he has been pushing his longtime Blackhawks teammate to come out of retirement for another season. When Kane floated the idea, Toews replied, “I’m thinking about it.”
That line is enough to get Blackhawks fans talking, but it still has to be handled with care. Toews has not said publicly that he is seriously weighing a return after retiring last June, following a comeback attempt with the Winnipeg Jets.
Kane’s own return on a two-year, $16 million contract has revived plenty of memories from Chicago’s dynasty years, and Toews has already admitted he was “straight-up jealous” that Kane gets another shot with the Blackhawks. General manager Kyle Davidson has also said the organization would welcome Toews back in some capacity.
For now, though, a ceremonial role seems more realistic than a spot on the roster.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens are still hunting for a real jolt up front, and Kirill Marchenko has been the name drawing the most attention. Montreal has been linked this past week to the Columbus Blue Jackets winger, but there’s a sense they’re not looking to settle for just any fallback option if that doesn’t work out.
That’s where Kent Johnson enters the conversation. Johnson put up 57 points in 2024-25 with Columbus, then dropped to 22 points last season.
He’s also in the final year of his three-year, $5.4 million contract. Even so, Montreal reporter Marco D’Amico believes the Canadiens are aiming higher and want a true top-six difference-maker rather than a consolation prize.
Eric Engels added that Montreal would be willing to put together a substantial package for Marchenko, but that level of commitment does not apply to a lot of other players.
And then there’s Connor McDavid, whose comments about Gavin McKenna and Toronto somehow turned into a fresh round of Maple Leafs speculation.
At the Zach Hyman Celebrity Classic, McDavid said McKenna looks ready for the pressure of playing in Toronto and will have a strong support system there, including Auston Matthews. “He’ll have his hands full in Toronto, but he seems like he’s prepared for it,” McDavid said.
The intent was clearly praise, but some Toronto fans took it in a different direction. Was McDavid taking a shot at the market?
Was he hinting that Toronto is too much for star players? The reality is that nobody understands franchise-level pressure better than McDavid, and Toronto’s media glare is its own animal.
That’s why the comments have fueled another layer of speculation: if McDavid ever reaches free agency, would Toronto be in the mix, and would he want that kind of burden? The Maple Leafs would certainly be interested, but joining them would mean stepping into a market that demands a Stanley Cup and never lets the pressure off.
McDavid has already lived with massive expectations in Edmonton. Toronto would only turn the volume up.
In Other News...
Connor McDavid Just Sent A Warning About Toronto's Next Leafs Debut
Before Gavin McKenna even gets to settle into his NHL debut, he is already hearing from one of the leagues biggest stars about what comes with wearing a Maple Leafs sweater. Connor McDavid weighed in on the young forwards arrival and made it clear that the talent is there, but so is the spotlight that comes with playing in Toronto.
McDavid also had praise for new Oilers coach Mike Babcock, pointing to the veteran bench bosss long track record and experience in the biggest moments. Edmontons coaching shakeup came after last seasons playoff disappointment, and the change has already put Babcock back in the center of the conversation as the Oilers try to reset. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs May Have Misread A Marner Replacement All Along
Matias Maccelli arrived in Toronto as a low-cost swing on a player who had shown enough offensive touch in Utah to make the move look intriguing. The Maple Leafs paid a third-round pick to get him, then mostly used him in a bottom-six role, which made it hard to see whether the fit was ever going to be more than a depth experiment. Even so, there were flashes that suggested a better setup might unlock more of what he brings.
The clearest example came in his limited run beside Auston Matthews, where the two shared the ice for only brief stretches across the season. Maccelli also finished with a stronger stretch after the Olympic break, which only adds to the sense that Toronto may not have given him enough runway. Now the question is whether a bigger offensive role and power-play time elsewhere will finally show the version of Maccelli the Leafs thought they were getting. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Rumors Just Put The Leafs In A Brutal Spot
The Canadiens reported search for help down the middle is the kind of rumor that naturally gets the attention of Maple Leafs fans, because it circles back to a familiar name in John Tavares. Toronto still values Tavares as a productive center and a stabilizing presence, but the broader conversation around his future has started to matter more because the Leafs do not have an obvious internal answer waiting in the wings if things ever changed.
For Toronto, that is what makes the speculation uncomfortable. Any serious discussion involving Tavares would have to account for what he still brings to the lineup and what it would cost to move him, which is why the chatter remains just that for now. Even so, the idea of a division rival poking around a player the Leafs still lean on is enough to keep this one on the radar. [Read more 🡒]