‘Just fires me up’: Maple Leafs’ MacEwen fighting for Lorentz’s job

September 24, 2026 - 3:38pm

Former Ottawa Senator Zack MacEwen in action during an NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP/Derik Hamilton)

TORONTO — Zack MacEwen stood tall in the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room late Wednesday. Sweat was dripping off his tattoos and party-at-the-back hockey hair. An ice pack was strapped to a limb, soothing a shot block and dripping on the floor.

The fifth-liner had just jumped up in the rush to finish a pretty feed from Easton Cowan. He’d fought Hayden Hodgson, another rugged fringe winger he knows from his Ottawa days, then got booted late for sticking up for Jake McCabe when Hodgson refused to lose quietly.

MacEwen’s PIMs (15) outweighed his TOI (11:11), and he couldn’t be more pleased to defeat his former Senators squad, splash the game sheet, and prove his worth to his new club in one last pre-season gasp.

“Felt good,” MacEwen said. “I think it’s a bit of a statement game for me. Obviously, I’m trying to insert myself here, and I feel like I did a good job of that tonight.”

So good, in fact, that the Maple Leafs elected to waive good soldier Steven Lorentz Thursday and promote MacEwen to the fourth line in their final skate before jetting to Arizona for a weekend of team bonding.

“He was good on the forecheck, right? He gets pucks in. He skates well for a big man. He finishes his checks. So, that’s what we need from him,” head coach Jim Hiller said post-game. “And then, if it gets rough or somebody’s trying to take liberties, that’s also part of his job. And so, I thought he did both things really well tonight.”

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MacEwen (six-foot-four, 226 pounds) saw Hodgson running around, trying to stir up chaos in a 6-1 pre-season blowout and answered the bell without a blink.

“I mean, you always want to play well against the team that you played for. It’s kind of a game that you have marked in the calendar,” MacEwen explained. “And as far as that stuff goes, I know him, and he knows me. I think he’s trying to make a statement for himself. I think he went a little bit too far at the end. Like, he doesn’t really have a lot of respect for the game doing that s---. I’m sorry — stuff. But it’s part of the game. You know, tensions run high, and it's pre-season. People are trying to make a statement. Everybody’s trying to make the NHL.”

Congratulations, Zack. You made it.

This after playing a measly three games for the New Jersey Devils last season and having his season end in November due to a fluke ACL tear. This after signing a team-friendly, two-year, $1.75-million contract as a free agent, and a gruelling summer of training in Halifax along the likes of Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand.

“Coming off the year I had last year and getting back into that kind of the game within the game stuff, that’s part of my game,” said MacEwen, moved by Scotiabank Arena’s roar of approval when he dropped the mitts. “Having that go the way it went tonight, it was special. And hearing the fans like that, it just fires me up.”

Fired his teammates up, too.

“Mac did an awesome job tonight. Scored a goal,” McCabe said, his praise unprompted. “Blocked a shot. Got up in the rush. Cow makes a great play to him. It’s nice to see players like Mac get rewarded: a big fight, sick up for his teammates … unbelievable night.”

Lorentz, also 30, had a decent night in Ottawa, too. Scored a goal. But he is a gentler sort, and, unlike most of John Chayka’s role-playing forwards, he was signed by the former GM.

“Obviously (Chayka) has added some grit, some guys that are established in the league, some guys who aren’t afraid to get their noses dirty — and that’s exactly what we need,” Lorentz said recently. “It’s nice to go play with guys who aren’t afraid to go into those corners, start some scrums, go to the net and play a dirty style of hockey.”

That Lorentz carries a heavier cap it ($1.35 million) suggests he’ll clear waivers easier. But now he’ll have to earn his way back onto a Leafs team for which he contributed 19 points and played 80 games (both career highs) in 2024-25.

Lorentz — a diehard Leafs fan since childhood — took a step back in 2025-26, dealing with healthy scratches and self-doubt.

“There were times I was struggling with confidence and almost trying too hard at times. That can throw you off your game. I think you have to go back and simplify,” he said. “Rather than thinking you have to go make a big splash and try to run every guy in sight, you just have to play the right way.”

MacEwen’s setback was more physical, but the Charlottetown, P.E.I., native devoted himself to the long rehab that comes with ACL surgery, weighed multiple offers, and picked Toronto based on geography and Chayka’s willingness to give him two years.

“I did everything I could to get back early, and now I'm back," MacEwen said. "I’m feeling great. So, just knowing that work I put in is coming to fruition is a good feeling. And, you know, I’m just gonna keep building on it, getting better.”

And getting father up the Leafs’ depth chart, thanks to one night of soft hands and hard knuckles.

“Things charge quickly in this business,” MacEwen said Wednesday. “I feel like I did my job tonight. Just see what happens.”

One-Timers: Nick Paul (undisclosed) left Wednesday’s win early and did not practice Thursday. Hiller told reporters he is “not overly concerned” about Paul’s injury but is unsure if his third-line centre will play in Tuesday’s opener. Third-line wing Colton Sissons tells us he prefers playing centre, so it’s a simple shift. ... Matthew Knies wants to earn his way back onto PP1, but in the meantime? “We have a pretty darn good second unit.” That’s where Gavin McKenna plays, too. ... Auston Matthews on Leafs training camp relocating to Scottsdale for a few days: “Not complaining. It’s in my hometown.”