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The Toronto Maple Leafs finish out their eight-game exhibition schedule against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, featuring a lineup with the top three lines and top two defensive pairings who will be on the ice for the regular season opener on Wednesday against Ottawa.
The Leafs “B… squad had an excellent night against the Wings in Detroit, winning 4-3 in a shootout at Little Caesar’s Arena. Darren Archibald, Matt Read, Hudson Elynuik scored in regulation and Jeremy Bracco converted in the shootout to give Toronto the victory.
Michael Hutchinson faced only 10 shots through two periods and rookie Joseph Woll made his Leafs debut, stopping seven shots in the third and overtime and all three Detroit shootout opportunities.
#Leafs down to 34 players (including 5 injured) with their cutdown on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/9hAqvHUu1Z
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) September 28, 2019
The top priority on Mike Babcock’s checklist was to give rookie defenseman Rasmus Sandin one final hurdle before making a decision on whether he will make the club. As he has done throughout training camp, the 19-year-old blueliner exceeded expectations, playing a game-high 30:35 (including shifts on the power play and penalty kill).
"(Sandin) was really solid, one of the best players in the game for sure. Played real hard, real smart, just makes good plays. It was a good opportunity for him to be important, and he was. He did a good job." Babcock said after the game. “We’ve been talking about (him being ready to make the NHL) all through camp. It doesn’t appear to me that seems to be a problem. He seems to be ready.…
The club made some final decisions on the remaining roster spots after the game, announcing that Archibald, Bracco, Adam Brooks, Rich Clune, Elynuik, Pierre Engvall, Teemu Kivihalme and Woll have been sent to the Toronto Marlies training camp and that forwards Pontus Aberg, Tyler Gaudet and defensemen Ben Harpur and Jordan Schmaltz have been placed on waivers for the purpose of being demoted to their AHL affiliate.
The club is down to 33 players, with five (Travis Dermott, Zach Hyman, Mason Marchment, Kaile Kossila and Garrett Wilson) unavailable due to injury and likely headed to injured reserve or long-term injured reserve (LTIR) to start the season. That means that GM Kyle Dubas and Babcock will have to cut at least five players to get down to 23, but could be as many as eight with Toronto’s rather tight salary cap situation.
Babcock was impressed with the performances of Dmytro Timashov and Nic Petan on Friday, who were given a heavy workload in their final opportunity. The Leafs may only carry 13 forwards, but could opt to go only with their starting 12 to begin the season.
In spite of impressing against Montreal, Egor Korshkov is waiver exempt and could use a bit of time in the AHL to acclimate more to the North American game. The big Russian will play alongside Nick Shore and Frederik Gauthier on Saturday, as Jason Spezza did not take to the ice for the morning skate.
Shore and Kenny Agostino have been good at times, but have been outperformed by Timashov and Petan. Veteran Matt Read scored twice in the preseason, was excellent killing penalties, and earned compliments from Babcock, but the 33-year-old is on a professional tryout and would have to be signed to an NHL deal.
Toronto is at 49 professional contracts and might only be able to sign Read if they make room by trading one of their players or if one is claimed by another club.
Defensively, it would be criminal if Sandin did not make the opening night roster. Martin Marincin is the best of a lot of bad options to play on the bottom pairing to start the season. Babcock is familiar with his limitations, but Marincin continues to display flaws in his game that could cost the Leafs until Travis Dermott is ready to return.
Timothy Liljegren is almost certain to be demoted after a disappointing camp, leaving the Leafs to choose between Kevin Gravel and Justin Holl if they opt to carry seven defensemen.
Gravel and Holl are expected to play against Detroit on Saturday and Frederik Andersen will go the full 60 minutes in his final tune up before the games get real.
Winner winner, @jbracco97 is having the chicken dinner! #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/qKYaypZJ0B
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 28, 2019
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