Hockey is finally back and the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp starts in three days!
The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t be here, they’ll be traveling to St. Johns, Newfoundland. Training camp will go on for five days and there will be scrimmages, an exciting barbecue that players will attend and a preseason game versus the Ottawa Senators.
Everyone will be there, except for Mitch Marner, unless he signs in the next three days. There was more that came out today about Marner, but it was just that he’s going to Switzerland in three weeks. Nothing new to talk about.
But, at least William Nylander will attend this years training camp. With the likes of Timothy Liljegrenand Rasmus Sandin eyeing a roster spot, it’ll be a fun camp for everyone involved.
Travis Dermott will be out for the first few months of the season, so a spot for one of those defenders is likely. Unless, Jordan Schmaltz, Ben Harpur, Martin Marincin or Justin Holl can steal a spot. With Mike Babcock watching over, one of them assumably will.
Even the goalie situation is going to be exciting. Can Michael Hutchinson secure the backup spot, or will it be Michal Neuvirth, who’s attending on a PTO? We’ll know very soon.
The Opening Night Lineup.
I haven’t spoken about the forwards yet because the top-six is solidified with the usuals; (Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Zach Hyman, when he returns and Andreas Johnsson).
The third line even looks set in stone with Alexander Kerfoot, Kasperi Kapanen and likely Trevor Moore getting a spot. The fourth line however, has some question marks. Jason Spezza is definitely centring it, but who are the wingers?
There’s recently signed Ilya Mikheyev, Kenny Augostino and Nick Shore. Then, the fourth liners of last year; Frederik Gauthier and Nicolas Petan, but I doubt those two will get a spot.
It’s more likely that we see Mikheyev start the season with the team filling in for the injured Hyman, who may be eyeing a return to the lineup earlier than expected.
He then might move down to the fourth line, and then there’s one spot left. I think it goes to one of the newly signed players. We’ve witnessed Gauthier play, as well as Petan, and we all know what Babcock thinks of Petan.
Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci will likely be the top pairing, like we witnessed at the informal skates. It’ll then be Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie taking over the second pairing. The third pairing however, has a lot of question marks.
Dermott looks to be back in late November, or early December, so that leaves one more spot open. I suspect it goes to one of either Sandin, or Liljegren. They’ve proved how good they are at the AHL level, now it’s time to show it in the NHL.
The exciting part is “who’s going to be Frederik Andersen’s backup?” There’s no more Garret Sparks, so it’ll be one of two goalies who’ve proven before they can be NHL backups, now they just have to show it.
I have no idea who will get the backup job. Both goalies are good, and it’s going to be a hard job to grab. Neuvirth has to be stable in net, without getting injured. Hutchinson, just has to be better.
The opening lineup will all be determined at this years training camp that starts in three days. I hope you’re ready, because I am. Hockey is back.