Gardiner left Thursday's game after blocking a shot and was diagnosed with a bone bruise. His presence on the ice suggests that he will play tonight, but we won't for sure know until the skate is over.

Maple Leafs' head coach Randy Carlyle said after the game that Gardiner suffered a bone bruise but no breaks, which is obviously good news for the Leafs. He is considered day-to-day and questionable for Saturday.

Gardiner has been a healthy scratch in the Maple Leafs last two games, but he will be back in the lineup tonight, paired with Morgan Rielly. Stephane Robidas is expected to take a seat with Gardiner returning. The Red Wings are a really fast team so getting Gardiner's foot speed is a huge upgrade from Robidas skating.

Gardiner was on the ice for warmups but did not take part in line rushes, so he will sit for the second straight game. When Randy Carlyle was asked what he wants Gardiner to do when he gets back in the lineup all he had to say was "play better." It is clear that Carlyle is not happy with Gardiner's play early in the year.

Gardiner led the Maple Leafs in ice-time on Saturday (23:04) but will not play on Sunday with Cody Franson returning from a knee injury. There is no word on whether Gardiner is dealing with an injury, but you have to think they would not make him a healthy scratch.

SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE -- PRESEASON EDITION Hi, it's so good to be back for another season of NHL hockey. This is the best time of the year, not only because we have hockey back, but here in the United States it means the start of Mallomars season as well as Nabisco does not ship out their chocolate laden marshmallow cookies for fear they would melt during the hot summer months. So yours truly has stocked up on 10 boxes of the delicious treats as they go on sale as soon as they hit the stores.  Bon apetit! I don't know if it's me or not, but I have noticed quite a few hat tricks during the pre-season. Does that mean scoring will be up this year? Bergeron, Pominville, Seguin, and Jeff Carter all had hatties, plus there were lots of 2-goal games from a lot of players, some you have never heard of and may not even hear of for a year or two and some more well-known names like Ovechkin. I hope this translates into the regular season. I think for the most part you will see the same teams in the playoffs this upcoming year, with a few changes. I think the New Jersey Devils will be much improved and may the playoffs.  And in the West, I can see Nashville bumping someone out. You are just gonna love watching the Tampa Bay Lightning this year. I can just feel it!  Can Colorado match last season's efforts? They won't be catching any teams by surprise this year. The Vancouver Canucks must be so happy playing for Willie Desjardins. Really happy. We believe it will be Anaheim Ducks facing off against the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals come June. I know the Winnipeg Jets fans are just chomping at the bit for their beloved team to make the playoffs. Do you know how loud it will be in the playoffs at the MTS Centre? The Islanders made some shrewd moves yesterday picking up defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy. Are they trying to win or something? I would just love to see a full-blown controversy in San Jose but with no one getting traded nor any coaches getting fired. Just some real-life soap opera stuff. Some of the players I am going to enjoy watching this year are Brayden Schenn, James van Riemsdyk, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Murphy, Jake Gardiner, Jonathan Drouin and Brandon Saad, as every year there are a handful of players that have the buzz. I think Nikita Kucherov wants to be more of a factor in Tampa's offense this year. It's good to see Henrik Sedin with 6 pre-season assists. I think all the Canucks want to forget last year. Evander Kane leads the ...

The Toronto Maple Leafs surprised everyone two years ago by making the playoffs and last year they surprised their fans who thought that they were pretty much a lock to return but fell a few points shy of the 8th and final playoff spot. During this past off-season the Leafs held steady except for signing a few role players to round out their forward lines by inking one-time Leaf Matt Frattin and also Mike Santorelli. The belief is that the existing core of forwards will improve and take that next step.  Gone is Nikolai Kulemin. The Leafs also kept their goaltending duo of Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer intact, both of whom should improve upon last season's numbers. GOALIES In what many believed was to be a 50-50 split in games started between Bernier and Reimer, it was Bernier who basically won over the starting job as he started in 49 of the 55 games he played in. In his first stint as a starter, Bernier posted a 26-19-7 record with a 2.69 GAA and a .923 SP.  Not great, but a better than Reimer's numbers of 3.29 and .911 respectively.  Expect Bernier to get the lion's share of starts this season.  There were rumors that Reimer would be traded but for now, he is a more than qualified backup to Bernier. DEFENSE There wasn't much change on defense during the summer except for the free-agent signing of former Dallas D-man Stephane Robidas. Robidas should bring more veteran presence to the blueline along with Dion Phaneuf. Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner, as well as Cody Franson, should give the best chances at production. There has been word that Gardiner will assume more of an offensive responsibility, and if that is the case and Rielly progresses, Franson's numbers could take a hit. With this defense corps, you probably would see high offensive production, but each of the top four could get approximately 40 points each. FORWARDS There is no doubt that Phil Kessel is the go-to guy on this squad. Kessel was on pace to surpass his best season high in points of 82 amassed in 2011-2012 but fell short because of a dry spell he hit towards the end of last season.  Expect his production to progress a little more, possibly into the 90's as he is hitting his prime.  IF you miss out on Kessel, don't let James van Riemsdyk slip too far as he is ready for another jump in points. Last season saw his point totals hit 61 with 30 goals.   I'm sure the Flyers are wishing they had him back now.  CenterTyler Bozak enjoyed having Kessel on his wing, so much so that ...

Gardiner, 24, set new career-highs in goals (10), points (31) and power-play points (11) in 2013-14. The 2008 17th overall pick has shown flashes of brilliance in his first three NHL seasons but needs to work on being more consistent. He has the potential to be a top-30 fantasy defenseman this season.

Former 50-goal scorer Dany Heatley has found a new home as the Anaheim Ducks have signed him to a one-year/$1M deal. The 33-year old has been on a downward spiral since his first season for San Jose, where he recorded 39 goals and 82 points in 09-10'. His 28 points for Minny last seasons allowed the Ducks to snag him at a discount price, giving them another veteran addition to possibly round out the top-six. It's hard to have any more faith in Heatley as a dependable fantasy option, but given the lack of impact left-wingers on the Anaheim squad, what if he plays himself onto the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry? Totally plausible, considering this might be Heatley's last opportunity to resurrect his career on a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Defintely worth a late, late round gamble in most fantasy drafts. ARBITRARY LEAFS: The Leafs have two 26-year old's, James Reimer and Cody Franson, coming off sub-years and opting for arbitration in the coming weeks. While there is a great chance that both will be out of Toronto via trades soon, it seems too early to write both of them off as future solid NHL performers. Yes, Reimer has taken a step back ever since the Game 7 meltdown against Boston in the 2013 playoffs, but his numbers were rock solid that season (19-8, 2.46 GAA, and .924 SP). The acquisition of Jonathan Bernier has made it clear that Reimer was no longer viewed as Toronto's starting goalie of the future, so maybe a change of scenery would help get his career back on track. As for Franson, he seems to have fallen behind youngster's Morgan Reilly and Jake Gardiner as future power-play staples at the point. In 12-13', the former Nashville d-man led the way for the Leafs blue-line with 29 points in 45 games. His situation is way more muddled than Reimer's, considering that Gardiner and Dion Phaneuf have also been mentioned in various trade rumors. One thing is certain; one of these offensive defensemen seems likely to get moved.

While scouring over the list of top ten fantasy defensemen over the last 15 days, I couldn't help to notice a few names of unispiring but talented youngsters who are readily available in most leagues and could have a huge short-term fantasy impact over the last week and a half. What can you say about the Los Angeles King's Alec Martinez? The 26-year old has exploded offensively in recent weeks, scoring 7 points in the last 8 games, including 4 on the power-play. His overall workload of minutes had been a major concern, as he has been averaging just about 15 minutes per contest. However, his TOI has steadily risen over his last three games, topping off at 19:35 in the 4-0 win over Phoenix. He has also been promoted to the top PP unit over the slumping Slava Voynov. While I am not quite sure if he can carry over his "hot" scoring touch to next season, his 13 points in the last 16 games is hard to ignore. The 20-year old Dougie Hamilton has shaken off his nearly season long sophomore slump with his recent streak of 6 points in the last 7 games for Boston. His offensive re-emergence has coincided with a steep decline in production for fellow rookie Torey Krug, so it may be time to grab him off the waiver wire. Keep in mind that the play-off bound B's might be giving no. 1 blueliner Zdeno Chara some much needed rest in the season's final games, meaning Hamilton could see a spike in minutes and subsequently, a boost in short-term fantasy value. Get Toronto's Jake Gardiner in your fantasy starting lineups immediately, as the 23-year old has responded lately with 7 points (1G/6A) in the last 7 games. With goal-starved maple Leafs desperately needing a jolt of offense from their defensive corps, the talented rearguard has been given more free reign to roam on offensive and create more scoring opportunities with his speed and passing precision. Like Hamilton, Gardiner possesses plenty of long-term fantasy upside, so don't be shocked if his recent stretch of scoring is a precursor to a breakout season in '14-15. Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon has been very active on the offensive end, collecting 6 points (1G/5A) in his last 8 games. In his fourth year, the budding blueliner has benefited greatly from riding shotgun to Ryan Suter on the Wild's top defensive pairing. While his power-play minutes have been mostly relegated to the second unit, Spurgeon has become fantasy relevant once again. Parting Shots Kimmo Timonen has fully recovered from a facial ...