What’s different around SBA for the Maple Leafs 2026-27 home opener

Published Sep 28, 2026  •  3 minute read

Jack Roslovic and the Maple Leafs kick off their season on Tuesday night in Toronto. Photo by Chris Tanouye /Getty Images

The 100th anniversary season of the Maple Leafs seems to have sparked 1,000 changes around the team and Scotiabank Arena. 

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Many of the revisions will be easy to spot Tuesday night for the home opener against the Montreal Canadiens. Starting with 12 new players on the 23-man roster; Sergei Bobrovsky in goal, Darren Raddysh and Nick Blankenburg on defence and up front, Gavin McKenna, Jack Roslovic, Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Colton Sissons, Brandon Duhaime, Zack MacEwan and if his immigration papers get stamped in time, Kirill Marchenko. 

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Behind the bench is an almost all new coaching staff under Jim Hiller, with John Chayka and Mats Sundin looking down from the executive suite.  

Renovations and upgrades to the 27-year-old SBA continue, but some vintage touches will be evident, such as the ‘Charlie Conacher’ era Leaf logo at centre to denote the 1927 franchise name change from the St. Patricks. Piping in the season, as they have since 1931 when Maple Leaf Gardens opened, are the 48th Highlanders, though if attending, get to your seat early as they play ‘The Maple Leaf Forever’ well before the main introductions. 

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For the first time since 1982, the retired Joe Bowen won’t be calling an opener, but in the newly-christened ‘Bowen’s Booth” will be Todd Crocker in his official play-by-play debut beside the returning analyst Jim Ralph. 

It’s the 29th time in the 109-year rivalry between the Leafs and Habs that they meet in a season opener, Toronto trying to win its fifth straight at SBA. The Leafs took the rare step of practising there Monday, to get new players yet to be in the home rink in this short exhibition get used to their surroundings.   

What are the general manager and coach saying about the new season?

General manager Chayka emerged from a team meeting to declare his team physically and mentally ready to get back in the playoff race after last season’s letdown. 

“Let them go play,” he said.  A connected team is a dangerous team.  

“The uncertainty is we’ve got a lot of new faces coming together. How do we get these guys to be a team fast as possible? We’ve tried to do everything we can to facilitate that. But that’s a bit of the secret sauce of the NHL. You look at the Hurricanes (defending Stanley Cup champs), good individuals, but the best team. 

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“If we get some chemistry, get everyone on the same page … it’s a difficult schedule early as well. If we can kind of get acclimated and get in a good spot in November, we should have a good season.” 

Hiller had a similar vibe.  

“We’ve had a great start. I tried not to get in their way to be honest, tried to let them have a lot of space. Obviously, we gave them a lot of time to spend together (including at captain Auston Matthews’s compound in Scottsdale on their desert diversion), encourage them to be good teammates and get to know one another. 

“There are two sides to that. First, you have to take the initiative as a teammate, secondly, be more open in general than you have in the past.” 

That reflects the feeling of many around the team that the dressing room had too many divergent groups the past couple of seasons. 

In terms of contract housekeeping on Monday, Chayka placed winger Max Domi on Long Term Injured Reserve, sidelined by complications from a summer operation of an undisclosed nature. Winger Dakota Joshua has been practising after a lingering core injury, is headed for an IR designation too. 

“He’s worked his butt off, the staff’s done everything they can,” Chayka said of Joshua. “Call it week-to-week, it’s not anything in the short term we’re expecting him back. We do know he’ll continue to recover.” 

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