A few Toronto Maple Leafs players will be treating Saturday night’s Training Camp scrimmage like it’s Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Toronto Maple Leafs roster is pretty much set, but there are four players who could use a huge game to secure more ice-time.
Since the Leafs have only played five games since March 11, 2020, it’s pretty easy to get excited about a team scrimmage. Typically, we’d only be able to watch highlights on Twitter and see the box score, but for the first time since I can remember, the team will actually be broadcasting this live.
Move over NFL Wild-Card Weekend, we’ve got a Toronto Maple Leafs game to watch!
The Leafs will be split into two teams on Saturday night at 7PM EST. Team Blue will face-off against Team Blue in a scrimmage, with each team rostering nine forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders.
Here is the roster for both teams, assuming nothing changes from the January 6 scrimmage.
Rosters for today’s training camp scrimmage. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/NU3HXN9XQn
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) January 6, 2021
Being able to finally watch the line combination of Joe Thornton-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner is going to be glorious. There has been a ton of talk about how great Thornton has looked on that top-line already in practice and I cannot wait to see it live.
Besides a few of the rookies, the next player that I can’t wait to see in a Leafs uniform is Jimmy Vesey. I’ve been talking him up more than almost anyone right now because I really think he’s going to seize his opportunity on the second-line. Having never played on a line consistently with players that are as skilled as John Tavares and William Nylander, I wouldn’t be shocked if he scored a goal during the scrimmage.
It’ll be great to be able to finally watch Toronto Maple Leafs hockey again, but there are four players that need a great performance to help their chances at cracking the everyday roster.
Let’s take a look at those four players now.