Toronto's week went better. As of Thursday the Leafs had won 3 straight. They beat Columbus 6-2, then beat the Rangers 5-4 when Troy Stecher scored with 28 seconds left, his first goal in 12 games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves in that one, and his 459th career win tied Henrik Lundqvist for sixth all-time. They had also lost 3-1 to San Jose earlier in that stretch, so it hasn't been perfectly smooth. The Leafs called up Dakota Mermis and Cole McWard from the Marlies to cover injuries on defense, which means the blue line isn't fully healthy either.
The McCann injury also costs Seattle its best-looking line. Shane Wright, now playing wing, and Berkly Catton had been driving play on the third line with Kakko, at 55.8% shot quality over 82-plus minutes. Moving Kakko to the top line fills the McCann hole, but it splits up the line that was working. Wright and Catton both say they came back from the summer more confident. A healthy Toronto lineup is the kind of opponent that will show whether they can keep producing without Kakko.
The Seattle defense is stretched too. Ryan Lindgren is out 4 to 6 weeks with an upper-body injury. Brandon Montour came back from his own injury and played a franchise-record 30:44. That tells you how much the Kraken are leaning on him. Jacob Melanson is out indefinitely and Jake O'Brien is on non-roster IR, so the forward depth is thin as well. Against a Leafs team that scores off the rush, Seattle's top 4 defensemen will play a lot of minutes.
Toronto's side still depends on Calgary. If the Leafs go hard there, Seattle gets a road team on its second stop of a western trip while the Kraken have been resting at home. If Toronto handles Calgary cleanly, this is a confident team playing a Kraken group that is still figuring out its new lines. Either way, Seattle's record from the hot start matters less than how the reshuffled lineup holds up.