Circle these dates on your calendars; Leafs' home games against Mikheyev, Campbell, Mrazek and other UFA departures
The Leafs are expected to kick off the 2022-23 NHL regular season with a back-to-back, starting on the road with the Montreal Canadiens on October 12th and then coming home for an October 13th date with the Washington Capitals in the Leafs' home opener. While those games will certainly be exciting, there are a few dates for Leafs fans that will be circled on the calendar; the return dates of the six Leafs who departed via free agency this summer.
The Leafs lost Ilya Mikheyev, Ilya Lyubushkin, Colin Blackwell, Petr Mrazek, Jack Campbell and Ondrej Kase this summer and while they'll have multiple cracks at each player this season, barring injury of course, here's when each of these players will make their highly anticipated return to Toronto and Scotiabank Arena, where they once called home.
Ilya Mikheyev - Vancouver Canucks: November 12th, 2022
Ilya Lyubushkin - Buffalo Sabres: November 19th, 2022
Petr Mrazek - Chicago Blackhawks: February 15th, 2023
Colin Blackwell - Chicago Blackhawks: February 15th, 2023
Jack Campbell - Edmonton Oilers: March 15th, 2023
Ondrej Kase - Carolina Hurricanes: March 17th, 2023
Aside from their first games against these players on home turf, the Leafs will also play against their former teammates on the road, with their first match against Kase coming first, on November 6th.
A few short days after their first game against Mrazek and Blackwell, they'll visit Chicago to take on the pair once again on February 19th and just two nights later, they'll visit Lyubushkin in Buffalo on February 21st.
Their first game against Jack Campbell in his new home will take place in Edmonton on March 1st and will cap that off to a visit to Vancouver to take on Mikheyev on his new home turf.
They'll also have additional games against Kase and Lyubushkin, who are in the Eastern Conference, but will only face Campbell, Mikheyev, Mrazek and Blackwell twice each, due to their respective locations being in the Western Conference.
