Maple Leafs have nothing planned for Phil Kessel return

Elliotte Friedman and Damien Cox discuss the latest news around the hockey world, including the Maple Leafs’ new CEO and Kessel’s return to Toronto.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have nothing planned for Phil Kessel‘s return to the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night, according to Sportsnet’s Damien Cox.

In the past the Maple Leafs have celebrated their former players, but the organization has changed their philosophy under new leadership.

It’s nothing personal, Phil.

“This is a bit of a change from (president) Brendan Shanahan and (general manager) Lou Lamoriello,” Cox said Friday night during his Headlines segment with Elliotte Friedman. “They’re not going to do that stuff…No insult to Phil Kessel, they won’t be doing any sort of tribute.”

Kessel spent six seasons with the Maple Leafs, racking up 181 goals and 213 assists in in 446 games, before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins this past summer.

The 28-year-old has four goals and two assists in 10 games with Pittsburgh this season.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.