It would have been fair to give Kirill Marchenko a little slack in his Maple Leafs debut Tuesday night.
asserted
It → give → debut
The speedy Russian got one of the bigger ovations in the pre-game introductions at Scotiabank Arena, played the opening shift on left wing with Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic, and earned an assist in the first minute.
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Russian → get → minute
He fed Morgan Rielly, Rielly fed William Nylander (who had hopped the boards to replace Roslovic) and the Leafs had a 1-0 lead.
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Leafs → feed → lead
The crowd loved it even more after some hard work along the boards later in the period, making Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj look silly.
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Xhekaj → love → period
“I had some chances, but not what I want to see from myself,” Marchenko said after a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens.
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Marchenko → have → Canadiens
“I can play better.”
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I → play → ?
All that said, it was a whirlwind day.
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it → say → ?
After a blockbuster trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Marchenko landed in Toronto at 1 a.m. with agent Dan Milstein working on immigration paperwork immediately to get Marchenko into the season opener.
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Milstein → land → opener
“It’s a dream for everybody, being a Toronto Maple Leaf,” Marchenko said.
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Marchenko → ’ → everybody
“It happened so quick.”
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It → happen → ?
There were some nerves: “Everything was new, but you’re happy when you go on the first shift, get a few touches of the puck and you’re on your way.”
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you → be → way
He played 20 minutes and eight seconds, including 3:25 on the power play, with four shots on net and was plus-one.
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He → play → net
While Leafs teammates lamented the loss of Matthew Knies in Monday’s shocking deal, they heralded the arrival of Marchenko.
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they → lament → Marchenko
“It’s a sh—-y part of the business,” said veteran Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev.
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Tanev → ’ → business
Columbus is getting a horse, but we’re welcoming in an amazing player.
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we → get → player
“You never want to see guys go, but you look forward and you’re happy to get a deal done with an elite player,” said Roslovic.
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Roslovic → want → player
I mention that with all great players, and he’s now of those.
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he → mention → those
“I like him as a guy, and he’s off-the-charts skilled.
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he → like → charts
He’s got a lot of strength, he’s very stable.
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he → get → strength
He does all the right things in the gym and he’s got a will to get better.
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he → do → will
The things that irk him don’t get in his way.
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that → irk → way
He brings some juice and some life.
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He → bring → juice
Sounds like a dream come true for a team that sees itself in win-now mode.
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that → sound → mode
“There’s a lot of good players in the NHL, very few that can impact winning and can single-handedly dictate outcomes to games, and we believe that Kirill is one of those players for us,” said Leafs general manager John Chayka.
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Chayka → ’ → us
“You’ve got to give up quality to get quality.
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You → get → quality
We gave up some quality people and quality players, but my job is to always make the team (better).”
The Leafs formally announced Marchenko’s six-year, $75-million (U.S.) contract extension just before the game.
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Leafs → give → game
It kicks in next season.
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It → kick → ?
“You get a top scorer on a team in his prime, and to be able to lock him up through those prime years, at a number that we think is effective for us, you can put that all together.
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you → get → that
We thought it was special opportunity,” said Chayka.
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Chayka → think → ?
Chayka added that he apologized to Knies “for the noise” over the last several months.
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he → add → months
“I don’t think it was necessarily fair to him,” said Chayka.
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Chayka → think → him
“This was the only thing we seriously considered as a management group.
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we → consider → group
These things happen, he understands.
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he → happen → ?
He’s a professional athlete and he’s a smart kid, but he took the news well.
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he → ’ → news
It’s a good young team he’s going to.
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he → ’ → ?
I think it’s a good fit for him.”
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it → think → him
Columbus GM Don Waddell said Marchenko was available because he had made it clear he would “rather play some place else.”
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he → say → place
Marchenko said he would keep his reasons for wanting to move “private,” adding that he thanked Columbus for his time there and for trading him to Toronto:
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he → say → Toronto
“For me, this is a good opportunity to show how I can play.
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I → show → me
I can help these guys and they can help me.”
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they → help → me
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
