The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens renew their rivalry Tuesday night with more at stake than the first two points of the season. Their 7 p.m. meeting at Scotiabank Arena opens the 2026–27 NHL campaign for both clubs and offers an early look at two teams heading in different directions after last spring.

Montreal finished 48-24-10, reached the Eastern Conference Final and enters the season trying to build on that progress. Toronto went 32-36-14, finished last in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Leafs responded by changing their general manager, coach, goaltending and significant parts of their lineup. One opening night cannot settle either club's outlook, but it will put their biggest questions on the same ice.

Toronto: Can the new pieces fix the old problems?

The Leafs still have Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares. The intrigue is everything around them. New general manager John Chayka hired Jim Hiller as coach, Toronto drafted 18-year-old Gavin McKenna first overall, and the club added goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and defenceman Darren Raddysh, among other newcomers. The aim is a prompt return to the playoffs, but the scale of the turnover means chemistry is an open question.

McKenna recorded his first preseason point with an assist on a Tavares goal in Toronto's 6-1 win over Ottawa on Wednesday. His early work alongside Tavares and Nylander has offered a glimpse of the creativity he might bring, though the club still has to decide how much responsibility to put on an 18-year-old at the start of an NHL season.

The larger test is at the other end of the rink. Toronto allowed 295 goals last season, the second-most in the league. Bobrovsky brings two Stanley Cup championships, but is also seeking a rebound after posting an .877 save percentage with Florida in 2025–26. Raddysh, coming off a 70-point season with Tampa Bay, should help move the puck and run the power play. Hiller must turn those upgrades into a team that defends more reliably. Matthews' return from knee surgery adds another important measure of Toronto's ceiling.

Montreal: Can a promising core take the next step?

The Canadiens arrive with a more settled identity. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky give Montreal a formidable top line, while Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson add to a young core that gained valuable playoff experience. After reaching the conference final, simply returning to the postseason would feel like a modest target. The challenge is sustaining that standard across an 84-game regular season.

Montreal's main uncertainty is the support behind its top line. A dependable second-line centre would ease the scoring burden on Suzuki's group. Oliver Kapanen, Kirby Dach and others offer possibilities, but each has something to prove. In goal, Jakub Dobes started all 19 of Montreal's playoff games last spring; now he has the chance to show he can carry the leading role over a full season.

The Canadiens' penalty kill ranked 18th last season, and associate coach Derek Lalonde has been brought in to help improve it. Montreal's preseason finale against Ottawa on Saturday should offer one last look before Tuesday's opener.

What Tuesday's game will reveal

For Toronto, watch how quickly McKenna and the other arrivals connect, how the Leafs move the puck out of their own end and whether their defensive structure looks firmer. For Montreal, watch the scoring chances created beyond the Suzuki line, the penalty kill and Dobes' work in goal. Those are early indicators, not verdicts on an 84-game season.

Toronto is trying to show its extensive changes can produce immediate progress. Montreal is trying to show that a deep playoff run has changed what its young team can expect of itself. On Tuesday, one of hockey's oldest rivalries becomes the first measure of both ambitions.

Sources: NHL schedule; Maple Leafs overview; Canadiens preview; McKenna preseason report.