Training camp is underway as of yesterday and some big news was released about the condition of Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul. He’s unfit to play and will begin the 2016/17 season on the injured reserve. Lupul will be joining the IR club with Robidas and Horton, that’s certainly one way to take care of a cap situation.

Andersen is still nursing his injury but should be good to show up at camp and is expected to start the season for the Maple Leafs. Nothing to stress about, minor injuries to goalies happen and much better before the season started than during. Although I do feel much more confident in our goaltending tandem having Enroth backing up Andersen gives me hope of a successful season.

The great news is, with Lupul on the IR that means another roster spot is open for one of the young guns to fill in. The 5.25 million that is Lupul’s cap hit will be taken off once the season starts, giving the Maple Leafs even more wiggle room. As it is, Robidas is making 3 million and Horton is making 5.3. With these players reducing the overall cap hit by such a large margin, and Greening, Michalek and Laich are all coming off the book next season. Toronto has a huge amount of salary to play with for resigning players and potentially adding a high quality player through trade or free agency. That’s something to keep in mind for later in the season, or next offseason, nothing to stress about, but good to see Lamoriello and Shanahan have the plan unfolding just how they want it to.

The Shanaplan, it’s a thing of beauty isn’t it?

With the removal of Lupul, the door for Marner opens. A potential top six spot for the youngster to shine in is exactly what I see when Joffrey Lupul is sent off to Robidas Island.

Marner has come into camp and feels great, he feels stronger, he feels confident that he knows exactly what he has to do this year to make the team out of camp. He’s done exactly what Babcock wanted him to do all summer, train at one hundred percent and eat every last scrap on his dinner plate.

“It was about eating everything that’s on my plate. Whatever my mom makes, no matter when I leave the dinner table, I’m as full as possible. She definitely did her part.”

Mitch Marner means business. He’s working hard on his game without the puck and ensuring he is playing into the system that the Maple Leafs and Babcock have infused into their game plan. Marner felt he was rushing things a bit last year when he got his first taste up with the big boys, he’s not only more mature now, but has a number of trophies and confidence to boot. Marner is ready to take the next step, and Leafs General Manager Lou is ready for Marner to show he’s ready and that the Leafs will give him a fair shot.

“We hope the next step is there for him,” the GM said. “He’s going to be given every opportunity.”

It looks as if all of the stars are aligning for Marner, all he has to do is do what he does best, play hockey.

Marner as you know isn’t the only player at training camp looking to get a spot on the Leafs roster. Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Nikita Soshnikov, Josh Leivo, Kerby Rychel and Peter Holland will be battling for spots, as will veterans Laich, Michalek and Greening. Nylander shouldn’t have any issues making the team, I consider him a sure shot.

I really hope Lamoriello is able to move a couple bodies (Michalek, Greening) and lets the youngsters dig deep and get the much needed National Hockey League experience, letting Babcock and his henchmen assess the progress of their prospects. Ultimately these kids need to be given a shot at some point, and with Matthews entering his first NHL season and Toronto having so many prospects, it’s time to weed them out and start building towards a contending playoff team.

Between Laich, JVR, Kadri, Bozak, Martin, Komarov, Polak and specifically Babcock, I feel the Leafs have enough veteran experience or NHL experience to be comfortable enough to ice so many rookies or sophomores.

On the defensive end of things, it really looks as if Zaitsev is going to be a quality defenseman for the Maple Leafs, he looks fantastic playing for Russia in the World Cup. What a huge score for the Buds, as we all know, defensemen of quality are not cheap these days.

Rielly and Gardiner are both a given, and I feel Polak is very likely in the mix as Lou was sure to resign the big bodied defender after trading him to San Jose with James Reimer last season.

That leaves Marincin, Hunwick, Corrado, and Carrick fighting for the last two vacant spots if the Leafs were to dress six defensemen a night.

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Polak
Marincin/Hunwick-Carrick

That’s my best guess at this point if I were to take a stab at the defensive pairings to start the season. I’m thinking Carrick has already impressed Babcock and he will get a very good look at training camp. The Leafs may have other plans, as they could upfront.

Pumping and Dumping: Getting a player’s value up by playing them quality minutes and as they have success, you trade them when their worth is high. Dion Phaneuf from last season is a good example. Perhaps the Leafs do this with one of Hunwick, Marincin, Corrado on the back end, or Greening, Michalek, Laich up front.

Thankfully Shanahan and his quality management group will be making the decisions.

Have a great weekend, thanks for reading.

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