Tuesday night, we got to see the debuts of Taylor Hall, David Rittich, and Anders Bjork against their former teams. On top of that, we saw Anthony Mantha score in his debut with the Washington Captials. Unfortunately for Nick Foligno, his debut isn’t so simple.
The former Columbus Blue Jackets captain, who was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline, has to cross over the Canadian/American border. Because he’s coming into Canada, it means he has to endure a 7-day quarantine period before he’s allowed to join the Leafs for team activities.
To make matters a little harder, Foligno is leaving his family of five behind in Columbus as he embarks on this rental period of his career. As Foligno was heading out to begin his Canadian quarantine, he shared out a final photo with his family, likely the last time he’ll see them until the offseason.
While it’s certainly tough for Foligno to leave his family behind, he’s also made it very clear how excited he is to join the Leafs. The Blue Jackets weren’t really going anywhere, and the Toronto Maple Leafs made it very clear ahead of the deadline that they are set squarely in win-now mode.
Foligno also has ties to Toronto from the days of his father playing there.
It may be a few months before he sees his family again, but Foligno is hoping to have a giant piece of hardware when he returns. Time will tell!
(via Nick Foligno Twitter)
