The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forward Matt Read to a professional tryout.
This gives the Toronto Maple Leafs roughly 600 players capable of playing in the NHL competing for jobs this September.
It’s going to a cut-throat battle royale.
And this level of competition should help fuel the Leafs to success all year long, since anyone who isn’t performing is going to have four guys jockeying for his job.
Toronto Maple Leafs Training Camp
You safely assume that the Leafs will carry 13 forwards on their roster. (Zach Hyman will start on the I.R after having off-season knee surgery, but assuming he isn’t sacrificed to the salary cap gods, he’s a sure thing to make the team, and will get his roster spot back upon returning to the lineup).
Matthews, Nylander, Johnsson, Hyman, Marner, Tavares, Kapanen and Kerfoot make up eight sure things to make the team.
The other five roster spots will be contested by Trevor Moore, Nick Shore, Jason Spezza, Frederik Gauthier, Pontus Aberg, Garrett Wilson, Matt Read, Nick Petan, Kenny Agostino, Ilya Mikheyev, and Jeremy Bracco.
That is 11 players competing for five spots.
You could also almost guarantee that Trevor Moore and Jason Spezza are on the team, so it’s probably more like nine players for three spots.
Additionally, it is not impossible that players like Dmytro Timashov, Yegor Korshkov, Pierre Engval, Adam Brooks or Mason Marchment get a look or make some noise.
Defense
On defense, competition will be just as stiff. Like Hyman, Travis Dermott will start the year on the I.R, but will be guaranteed a roster spot when he returns.
That means that the Leafs have Rielly, Muzzin, Barrie and Dermott guaranteed roster spots, with three spots up for grabs.
Competing for those spots will be Cody Ceci, Kevin Gravel, Ben Harpur, Jordan Schwartz, Justin Holl, Martin Marincin, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin.
That is eight players looking for three spots. Assuming the Leafs don’t trade him fist, Ceci will likely get a chance in the top four while Dermott recovers, with Schmaltz lining up on the right on the third pairing, and everyone else fighting for the left side third pairing, and the seventh man job.
While that seems like the obvious way it will play out, there is a reason teams hold auditions. The Toronto Maple Leafs have created a path for both Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin to make the NHL if they earn it.
Also, while they are probably farther away, it will be interesting to see how Joseph Duszak, Mac Hollowell and Jespers Lindgren do in training camp.
There are always surprises in training camp, but no matter what, the depth of the Toronto Maple Leafs is impressive, and that should make for one of the more exciting lead-ups to opening night that we’ve seen in a while.