The Toronto Maple Leafs will open the 2017-18 regular season with a Patrik Laine vs. Auston Matthews showdown in Winnipeg on Wednesday, October 4 before hosting the New York Rangers for their home opener at the Air Canada Centre on the following Saturday.
The season won’t be as compressed this year without the World Cup delaying the start of the schedule. The NHL also appears to have made it up to the Leafs after a particularly gruelling campaign in 2016-17.
After 18 back-to-back sets last season – second highest in the league – the Leafs will have an easier go of it with just 14 on the schedule in 2017-18. The Leafs went 6-11-1 in back-to-back situations last season, partly due to their unsettled backup goaltending in the first half of the year.
The Leafs will also close the season out with 16 games in the final 38 games of the schedule compared to 15 in the final 27 last season.
With a home-and-away against Vegas — the 31st NHL team — now on the schedule, Toronto will square off against each of their Atlantic Division rivals four times this season. Last year, the Leafs played the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers five times and the rest of the division four times.
The Leafs’ first ever visit to Las Vegas for an NHL game will take place on New Year’s Eve, while the Leafs will host the Golden Knights at the ACC for the first time on November 6.
Toronto will close the regular season out with a visit to the Bell Centre on April 7.
Other notes:
- Toronto will play its third outdoor game in four years when the team visits the Washington Capitals as part of the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Maryland on March 3, 2018.
I - Their longest road trip of the season will take place over Christmas time from Dec. 20-31, with visits to Columbus, New York, Arizona, Colorado and Las Vegas (five games total).
I - The team will return home at the start of the New Year for a season-long six-game homestand with visits from Tampa Bay, San Jose, Vancouver, Columbus, Ottawa, and St. Louis.
I - The Leafs’ preseason schedule will include a visit to Quebec City to play the Montreal Canadiens on September 27. The Leafs will also host three preseason games at the Ricoh Coliseum.
