The Toronto Maple Leafs will have John Tavares back in the lineup as he returned to the team ahead of their game vs. Utah after the birth of his son Tucker.
On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs got a huge reinforcement back with the clubs they saw the return of John Tavares to the team after he missed Saturday's game vs. Colorado to be with his family after the birth of his son, Tucker.
Maple Leafs get Tavares back ahead of crucial game vs. Utah
Toronto managed just fine without him in a 6-3 win over the Avalanche, but with Utah ahead, they would love to have him back. Lucky for them too, he's making the return:
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It seems like Toronto is going to have their former captain back in the fold on Tuesday night against the Mammoth, a much needed bit of help going up against a team that can't be counted out - Utah is the real deal.
Tavares, 36, has three points in five games so far this season; there is no indication of where Tavares will line up on Tuesday either.
Will the Maple Leafs move Tavares back to the 2C?
As successful as the second line was on Saturday against the Avalanche, it's very likely that the Maple Leafs are going to put Tavares back up the middle against Utah.
He's going to help out for sure, but there is a genuine argument to putting him on the second power play unit at least considering what Gavin McKenna was able to do. Plus, William Nylander looked great alongside Auston Matthews and the team may run with them going forward.
Tavares needs to be that crash and bang presence in front of the net, and his elite face-off ability is going to only be another positive for a team who is slowly putting things together, but he could be looking at a brand new line.
Hiller has shuffled the lineup so much over the past couple of games that it's hard to know where Tavares is going to find himself on Tuesday. But whatever the case, he's back in the lineup and that can only strengthen Toronto's chances against the Mammoth.
Should John Tavares be the 2C for the Maple Leafs when he returns vs. Utah?
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