Tavares Set to Return as Maple Leafs Host Canadiens on Saturday

Three weeks of watching from the sidelines is long enough for John Tavares. The Toronto captain is expected to be back in the Maple Leafs lineup on Saturday night, when Toronto hosts the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena, and his return could hardly come at a better time.

Tavares has missed the past nine games with a lower-body injury suffered on October 15, in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres. On Friday he took part in his first full practice in a regular jersey since the injury, skating at left wing on a line with center Nick Paul and William Nylander on the right. Barring a setback, that is the line Toronto will open with against its oldest rival.

"It's always challenging when physically, you're unable to compete and be available," Tavares said after practice. "So circumstances are what they are, but a lot of credit to our medical performance staff around the clock and everything they're doing. Just trying to get me back as soon as possible and to 100% health."

The relief in his voice was easy to hear. "So feeling good, it's been a good three weeks now, I guess. I'm just excited about to compete and want to help the team."

Toronto needs the help. The Maple Leafs are 8-7-2 and have lost three of their past four, and Saturday begins a stretch of five straight games against teams currently sitting in a Stanley Cup playoff position. Tavares has played predominantly at center since joining Toronto before the 2018-19 season, but he was shifted to the left side for the Buffalo game in which he was hurt, and he sounded entirely unbothered about where he lines up now.

"I think naturally I just want to go out there and be really effective and help the team," he said. "Sometimes you're just put in different spots and at times you're just on the wall more, less to the middle of the ice."

His coach knows exactly what he is getting back. "He's just another veteran player with a real presence," Jim Hiller said. "And I think one of the things that we've maybe struggled with is offensive zone time, winning puck battles, getting to the net front. That's what John does extremely well."

The numbers back that up. The 36-year-old has seven points — two goals and five assists — in seven games this season, and 1,192 points in 1,273 regular-season games across his career with the Leafs and the New York Islanders. Since arriving in Toronto, he has missed just 21 of a possible 635 regular-season games.

Tavares will also go straight back onto the top power-play unit, alongside defenseman Darren Raddysh and forwards Auston Matthews, Nylander and Jack Roslovic. That bumps 18-year-old Gavin McKenna, the No. 1 pick of the 2026 draft, back to the second unit. McKenna, who has been living with Tavares during his rookie season, took the demotion exactly as you would hope a teenager would.

"No, I mean, I'm 18-years-old," McKenna said. "There are a lot of guys on this League for a long time and know how to play that power play. So I think when you see a guy like John come on and take your spot, you're not too butt-hurt about it."

McKenna has 11 points in 17 games, five of them on the power play, and Toronto's man advantage still ranks sixth in the league at 28.8 percent despite going 0-for-4 over the past two games. On Saturday, against Montreal, the captain gets his first chance in three weeks to show why his return matters.