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鈥淚 remember that season being an absolute headache and a nightmare,鈥� Boyd said. 鈥淓ven trying to think back of the fact that we had to get tested every single day and it wasn’t just that. You lived in a little bit of fear because you didn’t want to be the guy who was the first one to get it, and then you give it to a bunch of other people.

鈥淵ou would come here (to the rink), you would go back to where you live and everything else was delivered to your door.鈥�

Boyd, now 32, was a fourth-year pro when he signed with the Leafs. He鈥檇 barely made a name for himself with the Washington Capitals when he signed with 海角社区官网in 2020. He got into a mere 20 games in those crowdless arenas.

He was ultimately midway through the season, claimed by Vancouver. COVID protocols cost him more games there, starting with a seven-day mandatory quarantine process for people going from province to province.

鈥淚 had to wait seven days and then I got out, did that seven days,鈥� Boyd said. 鈥淚 got out for one team practice. Came back the next day for a pre-game skate. We were supposed to play that night, and we already had three positive tests. So they postponed the game.

鈥淎nd then the next day four more tested positive. And then the next day, it was six. And then I ended up testing positive. At one point, we had something like 20 guys test positive. I was essentially isolated, quarantined in a hotel room, for 26 of 28 days.鈥�

Those days are long over. And Boyd鈥檚 journey since then has been up and down. He got some first-line time in Arizona, setting personal bests of 17 goals and 35 points in 2021-22. But a season-ending injury in 2023-24 set him back 鈥� he was out 10 months 鈥� and he never got his feet under him in Minnesota last year, spending most of the season in the minors.

鈥淚 was probably a little bit naive, maybe going into it thinking that it was only going to take five or 10 games and I’d be back to feeling how I was before I ever got hurt,鈥� Boyd said. 鈥淚n reality, I didn’t really feel like I was back to being the player I was until 40 or 50 games into the season.

鈥淚鈥檓 feeling much better going into this season.鈥�

When the Leafs were among the teams that came calling for him, the interest was mutual.

鈥淭hey wanted me and had a plan for me and saw some way that I could help the organization,鈥� Boyd said. 鈥淥n top of that, already having played here and 鈥� and yes, it was the COVID year, and it was all weird but I’m comfortable coming here. I know this city, I know this practice facility. I know the organization and how everything’s done.鈥�

And he knows many of the players, returning to see how players like Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander have grown and changed over the past few years.

鈥淭here were some big veteran presences on that team my first time here,鈥� he said, mentioning Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds. 鈥淭he difference now, especially with Nylander and Matthews, those players stepping forward into a much more pronounced leadership role.鈥�

Boyd is fighting for a depth role. He鈥檚 practised mostly with Luke Haymes and Alexander Nylander, a sign that the team might see him destined for the Marlies. That鈥檚 not how Boyd sees it.

鈥淥bviously the goal is to play with the Leafs and to be in the NHL,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 still 100 per cent believe and know that I’m an NHL player. And I think I’ve proven that through my career.

鈥淚 can be a little bit of a Swiss Army knife. I can play anywhere in the lineup. I can play power play. I can kill penalties. I like to think that I can pretty much fill any role, whatever the team needs.鈥�