The Toronto Maple Leafs enter these Stanley Cup Playoffs with a big cloud over their head as the team with arguably the most at stake in the postseason.

The Leafs finished with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference this season and won the Atlantic Division, so expectations are sky-high as they look for that playoff breakthrough. On Sunday, just before Game 1 of their first-round series against the Ottawa Senators, they got some good news that will make that quest just a little bit more attainable.

Head coach Craig Berube said that top defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be back in the lineup for Game 1, according to Chris Johnston of The Athletic.

“Oliver Ekman-Larsson will return to the Leafs lineup tonight, per Craig Berube,” Johnston reported on X, formerly Twitter.

Having Ekman-Larsson back in the lineup will give this Maple Leafs squad a massive boost heading into what should be a pretty tough series in the first round. He is their second-leading scorer among defensemen with 29 points in 77 games and the team is a plus-14 with him on the ice.

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Even when healthy, the Leafs know that this is going to be a very challenging series for them. Toronto is unquestionably the favorite heading in, but it will still be a big challenge to take down a hungry Ottawa team. Berube highlighted the difficulty of playing against the Senators before Game 1.

“You're not going to get any easy ice against them,” Berube said, per Johnston. “None. It's going to be a battle.”

Toronto comes into this postseason as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, but the pressure on it to start this run is immense. The Maple Leafs have made the playoffs in each of the past nine seasons, but has only won one series in that time period. Another loss in the first round this year would be crushing.

Having Ekman-Larsson back in the lineup will help the Leafs, but they have to be on high alert regardless coming into this series.