The Toronto Maple Leafs did not have an overly busy trade deadline period, making just 3 moves that impact the team at the NHL level, bringing in Ilya Lyubushkin, Joel Edmundson and Connor Dewar to provide upgrades to the team's blueline, bottom six and PK units.
Lyubushkin has been playing extremely well, complimenting Morgan Rielly very nicely in the top-4 in his first 4 games back with the team. As for Dewar and Edmundson, though, fans did not know when they should expect either to make their respective Leafs debuts. The jury is still out on Dewar, but thanks to TSN's Kenzie Lalonde, we now know when Joel Edmundson will enter the Leafs lineup, which is tonight against the Montreal Canadiens.
Not only did Lalonde confirm that Edmundson would make his Leafs debut against his former team in Montreal tonight, she also revealed something unique about Edmundson's debut for the Buds, being that his original Canadiens debut back in 2021 came against the Maple Leafs in the season opener.
Edmundson stands 6'5 and 221 pounds and thrives in the rough areas of the ice, including out in front of his own net, along the walls and in the corners. He arrived in Boston in time to play on Thursday, but the club had opted not to rush him into the lineup, instead having him watch from the press box with Mark Giordano and Connor Timmins. After watching the Leafs bully the Bruins on Thursday, Edmundson has been chomping at the bit to get into the lineup.
We're not quite sure who his D partner will be as of yet, but it wouldn't be surprising to see the Leafs ease him in on the 3rd pairing to start before finding the ideal spot for him, be it on the left side or on the right. Edmundson does have some experience playing on the right side and mentioned on Thursday that defensemen in the modern NHL often swap sides during play, and that he's comfortable on either side, which is great news for a Leafs team with so many left-shot defenders on the roster.
