Toronto Maple Leafs: Pre-Season News and Notes
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs begin the preseason tomorrow night.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will kick off the 2017-18 campaign Monday night against the Ottawa Senators. The Senators somehow finished ahead of the Leafs last season, but that is unlikely to repeat. Barring some more insane luck, I see no way in which the Senators aren’t one of the worst teams in the East this season.
In preparation for the game, the Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to make some cuts tonight to the 73 players that they started camp with.
The #leafs are about to make the first round of cuts. Expected to go from 73 players to 48 by the end of the day.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) September 17, 2017
Marleau
One of the big stories entering camp was the question of where Marleau would play in the lineup. So far, he’s been paired with Kadri and Komarov, with Komarov moving to the right wing.
This is a sensible move, as Marleau isn’t defensively responsible enough to replace Hyman on a line with Matthews and Nylander. Also, it’s smart to flip Komarov to right-wing rather than put him on the fourth line, as some had suggested.
Komarov, as the Leafs best defensive player, is too valuable to only get ten minutes per night on the fourth line. But Marleau’s presence ensured that one of Hyman, JVR or Komarov would have to move positions, be traded or demoted. While this is good for Komarov, it’s bad news for Connor Brown, who isn’t going to supplant Marner or Nylander on a line.
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The best solution to this problem is clearly to move Nylander to centre, as Brown is too good to waste on the fourth line.
Jared Cowen
It was interesting to read about Jared Cowen this morning. After losing his arbitration case against the Leafs this summer, Cowen was out about three million.
The Leafs argued that since he wasn’t injured, and was bought out for hockey reasons, that they shouldn’t have to pay his full salary. In the NHL, if you’re under 26 and get bought out, they only have to pay one-third of your salary.
Cowen is angry, and deservedly so. The Leafs are becoming well known for supposedly skirting the rules with injured players (Lupul, Robidas) so there is a bit of irony in them saying a guy is not injured and the player claiming he is.
Read the full story, with all Cowen’s comments here.
Next: Marleau Whereabouts Located
Final Thoughts
The Leafs open the season in just over two weeks against the Winnipeg Jets. Tomorrow the pre-season begins and before you know it, we’re going to be seriously talking about the Leafs and winning the Cup.
Can’t wait!