The Toronto Maple Leafs won a pair of weekend exhibition games against division rivals Buffalo and Montreal and on Monday reduced the number of their training camp roster to 49, sending forward Jeremy Bracco to the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League and forwards Tony Cameranesi, Marc-Andre Clichรฉ and goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo to the Toronto Marlies training camp.
The 19-year-old Bracco returns to the OHL club in hopes of winning a Memorial Cup after having an extremely successful 64-point rookie season (21 G, 43 A) and is expected to be on Team USAโs roster for the 2017 World Junior in Toronto and Montreal.
Excited to head back to @OHLRangers ๐๐๐ #UnfinishedBussiness
โ Jeremy Bracco (@jbracco97) October 3, 2016
Cameranesi (a 2011 fifth round pick of the Maple Leafs) and Clichรฉ (who played in the NHL with Los Angeles and Colorado) were both signed to AHL contracts this summer, while Kaskisuo agreed to an entry-level NHL deal in April after playing three seasons at Minnesota-Duluth.
Leafs current training camp roster (49 players)
Goalie(4) Andersen Bibeau Enroth Sparks
Defense(16) Brouillard (AHL Deal) Campbell Carrick Corrado Dermott Gardiner Holl Hrabarenka (Tryout) Hunwick Loov Marincin Nielsen Polak Rielly Valiev Zaitsev
Forwards(29) Bozak Brooks (unsigned) Brown Clune (AHL Deal) Froese Gauthier Greening Holland Hyman Johnsson Kadri Kapanen Komarov Laich Leivo Leipsic Lindberg Marner Martin Matthews Michalek Moore Nylander Prust (Tryout) Rychel Smith Soshnikov (Inj) Timashov van Riemsdyk
The 3-2 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens marked the debut of Leafs top pick Auston Matthews and defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.
The 19-year-old center skated with wingers William Nylander and Zach Hyman, looked composed and played defensively responsible, covering the point for pinching blueliners on numerous occasions. Matthews finished the game +2 and third in TOI among forwards (18:23) behind James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak.
Zaitsev was very comfortable in his first game with Toronto, likely because of his two-week familiarization with the ACC during the World Cup.
โIโm most impressed with his poise how heโs handled playing against the top players on each team that heโs faced and being put in key situations, so we know what the coaching staff thinks of him.โฆย GM Lou Lamoriello said.
Head coach Mike Babcock did not ease the Russian defenseman into the lineup, as Zaitsev led all players in power play TOI and played 22:30 (second to Morgan Rielly).
Nikita Zaitsev gets the Leafs on the board. #TMLtalk https://t.co/ZNhAVqBlwe
โ Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 3, 2016
The injury news was mixed at training camp on Tuesday, as the club had their media day at the MasterCard Center in Etobicoke, ON. Goalie Frederik Andersen took part in practice and according to Sportsnetโs Chris Johnston, will be in the lineup for the Leafs next game in Saskatoon against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
Nikita Soshnikov has struggled with hamstring problems since the start of camp and Babcock indicated that the Russian winger was shut down to properly rehab the injury so that it will not linger and will begin the season with the Marlies.
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