The Toronto Maple Leafs’ preseason rolls on with their second game against their biggest rival the Montreal Canadiens. In the first game at the Bell Centre, the Maple Leafs’ roster consisting of more fringe players and AHL’ers beat a Canadiens’ squad that had upwards of 75% of their regulars in the lineup.
Related: Maple Leafs Sign James Reimer to a PTO
Now, the preseason series shifts back to Scotiabank in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs will dress a good portion of their regulars. This is the first game that we will see Max Domi, Jake McCabe, Anthony Stolarz and newly acquired Nicolas Roy. Maple Leafs fans won’t see Auston Matthews, who prefers to play in just two games in the preseason. But, they’ll dress other top players, who will appear in their second preseason tuneup.
Maple Leafs News
The biggest news since their last preseason game on Thursday night has to be signing former Maple Leaf James Reimer to a professional tryout (PTO). At this time, it is just a PTO, but with Joseph Woll on a leave of absence and Dennis Hildeby projected to be the back up, the organization felt that they needed to bring in another veteran. Reimer would serve as an insurance policy in case someone gets hurt or struggles out of the gate. It will be nearly 10 years since he last suited up for Toronto, but for most fans in their mid-to-late 20’s, seeing him back with the organization just feels right.
James Reimer, Buffalo Sabres (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Next up, it looks like Ben Danford and Easton Cowan are getting an extended look with the club. In fact, there could even be a chance that they both start the season with the NHL club. Yesterday in practice, Cowan was getting reps on the fourth line with Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz, who had great success together in the game on Thursday. He was also getting some time on the second power play unit, which could be a sign that Craig Berube likes what he sees and may keep him around. As for Danford, if Benoit starts the season on the IR, which could be a possibility, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get a look as well as Henry Thrun. As of right now, he is skating alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the third pairing, and appears to be earning the trust of the coaching staff.
Lastly, it is looking more and more likely that the Maple Leafs elect to waive Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf. Both players aren’t really getting reps in practice with the main group, which could be the first sign to their time coming to an end with the NHL club. Of course, if they are waived and go unclaimed, they would report to the AHL and play with the Toronto Marlies. However, there could be a team or two that would take them on for free who are looking for veterans within their bottom six.
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Calle Jarnkrok – John Tavares – William Nylander
Matthew Knies –Max Domi – Nicholas Robertson
Dakota Joshua – Nicolas Roy – Mattias Maccelli
Michael Pezzetta – Jacob Quillan – Borya Valis
Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly – Brandon Carlo
Olivier Ekman-Larsson –- Matt Benning
Anthony Stolarz
Artur Akhtyamov
Montreal Canadiens
Zachary Bolduc – Alex Newhook – Olivier Kapanen
Sammy Blais – Joe Veleno – Owen Beck
Sean Farrell – Alex Belzile – Tyler Thorpe
Laurent Dauphin – Lucas Condotta – Riley Kidney
Arber Xhekaj – Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble – Lane Hutson
Marc Del Gaizo – Adam Engstrom
Kaapo Kahkonen
Jacob Fowler
Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada is back, with puck drop set for 7:00 pm. This is the first Saturday night game of the hockey season and it is the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. It doesn’t get better than that. After the game tonight, Toronto is scheduled to head to Muskoka, Ontario on a team bonding trip. Either before or after, they could announce more cuts to their roster. They will return for Thursday to finish out their preseason against the Detroit Red Wings.
