The Toronto Maple Leafs already were without defenseman Stephane Robidas to starting their 2014-15 training camp and it was revealed Friday that forwards Tyler Bozak and David Clarkson are also unavailable due to undisclosed injuries.
The 28-year-old Bozak had an excellent year in 2013-14, with 19 goals and 30 assists as the center for Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk, but missed 24 games due to an oblique strain and lower body injury.
A contributing factor to Clarkson's debut debacle in Toronto was numerous physical ailments. The 30-year-old winger had an elbow injury that nagged him for much of late December and January. Surgery on elbow forced Clarkson to miss eight games.
The origin and location of the injury were not released by the Leafs media staff and the two forwards will not be available for a pair of scrimmages to be held at the Mastercard Center in Etobicoke, ON Saturday and Sunday, but both are considered to be day-to-day.
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The way last season ended, Leafs goaltender James Reimer assumed he would be entering this season as a potential starting goaltender for another NHL team, but the 26-year-old netminder signed a two-year contract extension with Toronto over the summer and enters training camp as the presumed backup to Jonathan Bernier.
There were some doubts about where I stood or what the direction would be going forward," Reimer said to ESPN’s
Pierre Lebrun on Friday. "Over the course of the summer I really liked what was going on here.”
The goaltending market during the summer was not conducive to the Maple Leafs getting equal value in a trade for the four-year NHL veteran, with veterans Jonas Hiller, Ryan Miller and Jaroslav Halak signing free agent deals with Calgary, Vancouver and the NY Islanders and with Reimer’s subpar performance in the second half of last season.
"I’m coming in to compete as hard as I can and prepare for this season so that when Game 1 hits, you are ready to go and ready to be that guy for your team," Reimer said. "As far as how many games and what’s going to take place, that’s up to Randy. I’m just going to play my heart out like I always do and see where everything falls."
The upcoming season is a marriage of convenience for the Leafs and Reimer, as the club hopes that the netminder can bounce back from a rough stretch last season and provide quality starts in support of Bernier, who had offseason sports hernia surgery, as well as reestablishing his reputation and trade value for a possible move at the trade deadline or next summer.
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