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A sure sign that summer is over and that hockey season is approaching is the annual Rookie Tournament. On Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs revealed their roster for this year’s tournament at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec on September 8 and 9.
The Leafs roster, comprised of 30 players (17 forwards, 11 defensemen and 2 goalies) will face prospects from the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators on the weekend prior to the opening of training camp and includes 2017 and 2018 first round picks Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin, seven prospects selected in the 2018 NHL Draft(forwards Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Riley Stotts, defensemen Sandin, Sean Durzi, Mac Hollowell, Filip Kral, and goalie Zachary Bouthillier) and four players selected in 2017 (forward Ryan McGregor, defensemen Liljegren, Fedor Gordeev and goalie Ian Scott).
The @MapleLeafs announced today the club’s 30-man roster that will participate in the 2018 NHL Rookie Showdown at Place Bell in Laval, QC this September. The players will compete in two games against prospect teams from Montreal and Ottawa. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/2xQegQw66w
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) August 30, 2018
Also attending are six members of the Calder Cup Champion Toronto Marlies (Jeremy Bracco, Adam Brooks, Carl Grundstrom, Liljegren, Mason Marchment and Andrew Nielsen), eight players on AHL contracts (Matt Bradley, Hudson Elynuik, Giorgio Estephan, Brady Ferguson, Stefan LeBlanc, Ryan Moore, Derian Plouffe and three free agent invitees (Drew Hunter, Roman Pucek and Eli Zummack).
Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe, Newfoundland Growlers head coach Ryane Clowe, assistant coaches Rob Davison and A.J. MacLean and newly hired goaltending coach Jon Elkin will be in charge of the prospects next weekend, as Leafs head coach Mike Babcock and his staff prepare for the opening of training camp on September 14th through 16th in Niagara Falls, ON.
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