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The Toronto Maple Leafs will once again go with split squads in back-to-back games against an Atlantic Division foe. With 48 players still on the roster, one group will face the Buffalo Sabres at Ricoh Coliseum on Friday and the remainder will see action at Key Bank Center on Saturday.
While there is bound to be a lot of experimentation with different combinations of bottom pairing defensemen and fourth line forward candidates, the Leafs head coach has not altered the top two offensive lines from last season; Tyler Bozak centering James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews playing in between Zach Hyman and William Nylander.
It was thought when the club signed free agent Patrick Marleau in early July, that he would patrol the left side with Matthews and Nylander, but since scrimmages prior to training camp, the 38-year-old veteran winger has been skating with Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov.
In Detroit, Babcock placed rugged winger Justin Abdelkader with Pavel Datsyuk and having someone go into the corners and win puck battles worked for the Wings star center. The Michigan native scored 10 goals in two straight seasons before breaking out with 23 goals in 2014-15 and 19 goals in 2015-16.
Babcock all but confirmed that he has decided to stick with Hyman on Matthews line to begin the regular season.
“Hyman’s a guy who gets the puck back all the time. When you’re a good player, I’ve learned from good players, they like to have the puck.”
Babcock said on Thursday. “(Pavel) Datysuk used to tell me all the time, ‘No, put him on someone else’s line. I want a guy to get me the puck.’ (Hyman) gets the puck back better than anyone.”
At practice, former KHLer Miro Aaltonen skated with Josh Leivo and Connor Brown. The former Anaheim draft pick is in competition with veteran Dominic Moore for the fourth line center spot, but did not play well in his debut against Ottawa on Monday.
It is expected that the club will make another significant cut on Sunday before playing a pair of games against the Montreal Canadiens early next week.
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Any fears of a long drawn out dispute over Joffrey Lupul’s failed physical were put to rest on Wednesday night, as the injured Leafs winger released a statement on Twitter that he would not file a grievance with the NHL Player’s Association.
Lupul had until 5pm Thursday to ask for a second opinion and failure to do so likely closes the Toronto chapter of the veteran winger’s career.
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