Less than a year since these two teams met in Game 7 with a Conference Final berth on the line, the Maple Leafs and Panthers are jostling for draft positioning in the 80th game of the 2025-26 season (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).
Game Day Quotes
Defenseman William Villeneuve on making his NHL debut after four AHL seasons and his path to getting here:
Everyone has their own path and timeline. If I look back four years ago, it is a different player and person. I’m confident in my game. I’ve worked a long time for it. I’m excited.
When I got to pro, I was 6’2, 170 pounds. I was trying to battle against guys who were 220 and stuff like that. Physically and mentally, I’m more mature. Defensive and physical game have improved a lot.
I have to go out there, not overthink, just play my game, and do what got me here.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson on his advice to Villeneuve ahead of his NHL debut:
Just go out there and have fun with it. It’s a cool day overall. You just take it in and be in the moment at the same time. Just have fun with it.
Craig Berube on the message to Villeneuve ahead of his NHL/Leafs debut:
A lot of the same things I tell all the young guys. Your first couple of shifts will be a little nerve-wracking, and you want to do well. After you get through a couple of shifts, you get feeling better, and you just play.
We provide them with what they’ll see from Florida tonight. They’re obviously a hard forechecking team. They dump a lot of pucks in. He’ll have to be good on his retrievals and battles down low tonight. It’ll be a big part of the game for him.
Berube on the fall to the bottom of the standings for both the Leafs and Panthers:
It’s tough for both teams. I wouldn’t have thought that. But circumstances — injuries, and a lot of things — play into it. I don’t need to sit here and explain them all. But that is the way it goes sometimes in this league. It just shows the parity in this league. You can’t take a breath. There are no easy teams.
John Tavares on Luke Haymes’ NHL debut and first point vs. the Islanders:
You could sense the excitement in him and probably even some of the jitters. That is what it is all about.
I just thought he competed really hard. You saw a lot of second and third efforts from him. One of those instances led to our first goal. And he did a good job on the faceoff dot, earning his first point.
I’m just really happy for him. We all know what it’s like to play in your first game, and to make an impact and contribute to the game is even better.
Paul Maurice on the many young players in the lineup for both teams:
You come to the rink excited to see these young guys play, and they’re playing hard. You’re coaching, trying to direct them, and you’re pulling for them. You want them to have a great experience. We’ve both had pretty tough years in Toronto and Florida. We need a reason to be excited about a game when we are closing out our season.
Maple Leafs (32-33-14) vs. Panthers (37-38-4): Head-to-Head Stats
via NaturalStatTrick.com & AdvancedHockeyStats.com
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#63 Matias Maccelli – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#53 Easton Cowan – #11 Max Domi – #23 Matthew Knies
#18 Steven Lorentz – #43 Luke Haymes – #89 Nick Robertson
#61 Michael Pezzetta – #26 Jacob Quillan – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #28 Troy Stecher
#44 Morgan Rielly – #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#2 Simon Benoit – #76 William Villeneuve
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#70 Artur Akhtyamov
Extras: Philippe Myers, Ryan Tverberg
Injured: Dakota Joshua, Anthony Stolarz, Brandon Carlo, Auston Matthews, Chris Tanev
Florida Panthers Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Carter Verhaeghe – #9 Sam Bennett – #11 Mackie Samoskevich
#32 Wilmer Skoog – #27 Eetu Luostarinen – #10 AJ Greer
#79 Cole Schwindt – #92 Tomas Nosek – #18 Noah Gregor
#29 Cole Reinhardt – #71 Luke Kunin – #24 Vinnie Hinostroza
Defensemen
#42 Gustav Forsling – #54 Ludvig Jansson
#22 Tobias Bjornfot – #20 Michael Benning
#4 Marek Alscher – #6 Donovan Sebrango
Goaltenders
Starter: #40 Daniil Tarasov
#72 Sergei Bobrovsky
Injured/Out: Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, Dmitry Kulkov, Evan Rodrigues, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell, Aaron Ekblad, Matthew Tkachuk
