Maple Leafs head to Arizona for pre-season bonding before opener

The Toronto Maple Leafs are leaving town after Thursday’s practice, boarding a team charter to Scottsdale, Arizona for a long weekend of team bonding just days before the 2026-27 season begins. With a five-day break between their final split-squad pre-season games against the Ottawa Senators and Tuesday’s home opener versus the Montreal Canadiens, management chose to invest that window in chemistry rather than more time at the practice rink.

Breaking from the Muskoka routine with a desert twist

In recent years, the Leafs have broken up training camp with short getaways to Ontario cottage-country stops such as Gravenhurst and Bracebridge, along with other retreats in Collingwood and even St. John’s, N.L. This year, general manager John Chayka said the organization wanted a fresh approach after MLSE CEO Keith Pelley suggested the traditional Muskoka trips had started to feel repetitive.

Travel director Brad Lynn assembled a list of alternatives, including a Wisconsin option championed by defenceman Jake McCabe and a few East Coast ideas. After weighing logistics and timing, the club settled on Scottsdale, hometown of captain Auston Matthews and a familiar base for Chayka from his time running the Arizona Coyotes, where he still keeps a home.

For Matthews, the trip doubles as a chance to show teammates where he grew up and how he connects with the local community. The warm weather and chance to step away from Toronto’s intense spotlight for a few days also appealed to the group.

Open practice at Mullett Arena and focus on new faces

The NHL group of players, coaches and executives will spend the weekend in Arizona, highlighted by an open practice Saturday at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena. Around that session, the schedule features golf outings and team dinners. Matthews plans to host his teammates at his off-season home one night, while Chayka will welcome hockey staff to his own residence.

Forward Colton Sissons, one of 11 newcomers on the roster, called trips like this vital to building connections quickly, noting that getting players comfortable off the ice can pay off when games start to matter. Internally, some staff had wondered whether last season’s lack of an early extended road swing — the first significant trip didn’t come until Nov. 22 — contributed to a sluggish start and questions about the club’s culture.

Managing time zones for a clear purpose

Flying three time zones away so close to opening night is unusual, but the Leafs have built an itinerary to limit disruption: they will return to Toronto on Saturday night, take Sunday off, then resume practice on home ice Monday. Veteran defenceman Troy Stecher pointed out that crossing time zones is part of every NHL schedule and framed this as a single extra flight without the grind of back-to-back games.

The emphasis, Stecher noted, is on shared experiences — "a nice dinner, hang out with your teammates, swing the golf stick, and get a couple practices in" — that strengthen bonds ahead of an 82-game grind. Asked about spending extra time and money in the United States at a moment of trade tensions, Chayka declined to wade into politics, instead stressing that sports remain a unifying space where fans set differences aside to pull for the Maple Leafs.