Leafs’ John Tavares to miss game vs. Avalanche for birth of child
Center John Tavares won’t be in the lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche, head coach Jim Hiller confirmed on Friday.
According to his bench boss, the 36-year-old and his wife, Aryn, welcomed a fourth child on Friday: a baby boy named Tucker. With a game less than two days after becoming a father of four, Tavares has been given flexibility to play his role as a dad, rather than a Maple Leafs center.
On Friday, Nick Paul skated with William Nylander and Easton Cowan, giving a glimpse into potential forced lineup changes for Hiller’s group. Reporters on location noticed Tavares’ absence while the team practiced in Las Vegas, where the Maple Leafs fell 4-3 to the Golden Knights in overtime the night before.
While Tavares will miss the visit to Colorado, it remains unclear whether he will be in the lineup when the team concludes its three-game Western Conference road swing on Tuesday against the Utah Mammoth. The next game after that comes Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres at home.
One of Toronto’s alternate captains, Tavares, has one goal and two assists for three points in five games this season, with his career total currently at 526 goals and 662 assists for 1,118 points in 1,271 contests.
On the family side, Tucker has siblings Jace, Axton and Rae, as Tavaras and Aryn continue to build their family life away from the rink.
Through five games this season, the Leafs sit on five points, good for fifth in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, while rookie and recent No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna continues to adjust to the new challenge of playing at the highly demanding level of the NHL.
After the road trip, the Maple Leafs first take on Buffalo at home, then face Tavares’s former New York Islanders and Macklin Celebrini’s San Jose Sharks before embarking on a one-game road swing to face the Columbus Blue Jackets.
