'Oh My God, I Missed You Guys': Ilya Lyubushkin Returns to Maple Leafs Lineup After Trade, Excited at Chance to Play Playoff Hockey

Ilya Lyubushkin is back in Toronto, but this time, he’s wearing a Maple Leafs uniform once again.

“Oh my god, I missed you guys,” Lyubushkin said as he stepped in front of the cameras, encircled by media members.

The 29-year-old was acquired by the Maple Leafs on Thursday night from the Anaheim Ducks. It was a three-team trade with Toronto sending a 2025 third-round pick to the Ducks (with Anaheim retaining 50% of Lyubushkin’s cap hit) and a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes, who retained 25% of the defenseman’s cap hit.

“I’m super excited. It’s easy to join this team for me because I know this organization, I know these guys,” Lyubushkin said. “My teammates, it’s unbelievable.”

Lyubushkin will make his Maple Leafs season debut on Saturday night when Toronto takes on the New York Rangers. It’s projected that he’ll play alongside Morgan Rielly, who he was paired up with when he last played for Toronto.

“He’s good player. Good partner,” he said. “Unbelievable to get chance again to play with him.”

“They just seemed to compliment each other well,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Saturday of why Rielly and Lyubushkin paired well together.

“Lyubushkin, himself, at that time, brought a lot to our team in terms of physicality and competitiveness and just being hard to enter our zone, hard to be around our net, which was something that we really needed at that time, and I think we still need it.

“I think we’ve improved in that area with just our team mindset and some of our personnel, (Jake) McCabe and (Simon) Benoit, and Lyubushkin will add to that. But it also just seemed to compliment Morgan well and bring out the best in him.”

Lyubushkin, although he wasn’t surprised that Anaheim traded him, said that being traded is always an eye-opener. However, the defenseman was cheerful that the Maple Leafs were the team he was traded to.

“I’m excited to be traded to Toronto Maple Leafs,” he said.

“Teammates and organization. I feel like it’s big family here.”

Lyubushkin has played with plenty of players on the Maple Leafs before, but one who he hasn’t been teammates with is Ilya Samsonov. Their friendship has grown over the last few years to the point where Samsonov and his family made the trip to Buffalo to spend Christmas with Lyubushkin and his family in December 2022.

“We really close to each other,” Lyubushkin said on Saturday. “He’s big my friend and super excited to see him here.”

Samsonov, on Friday, was ecstatic, not only to have Lyubushkin on his team, but to be asked about his good friend.

“It’s great, I waiting for this question,” Samsonov said with a grin.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s great for team, for me. I’m excited. When friends come to your team, you’re really excited about this.”

Samsonov says he’s known Lyubushkin for about four or five years. They spent a lot of time together last summer, whether it was on vacation, training, or playing golf.

“He’s nice guy,” Samsonov added. “Everybody know him in the locker room. He’s not like new and yeah, it’s great.”

The Maple Leafs netminder also said on Friday that the two Russians exchanged texts in the days following the trade.

“We just talking about he’s needeing help, maybe I pick him up in airport, but he’s come too late. I’m sleeping at this time,” Samsonov said, letting out a huge laugh.

Lyubushkin said he arrived in Toronto at around 11 p.m. on Friday night and only got five or six hours of sleep before taking the optional morning skate at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

“I think it’s okay. A long nap,” he added.

Although he lacked sleep, you could see, and feel, the excitement that Lyubushkin has to be back with the Maple Leafs. It’ll be a large jolt as the defenseman gets added to a team with high playoff aspirations.

“Oh, it’s best part of hockey life, you know?” Lyubushkin said of getting a chance to play playoff hockey in Toronto. “So, no words.”

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