The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the 2021/22 season with a team made up largely of unknown quantities. Yes, of course there are the obvious returnees, but even with players like Jack Campbell still under contract, whether he can factor in as a true No.1 remains to be seen.
At least for the Leafs brass, the rookie camp showed almost exactly what they expected: Nick Robertson is the best rookie by a country mile, Seymon Der-Arguchintsev continued to perplex with some vastly below par and other standout performances, Ian Scott remained cool while a few players like Joseph Duszak impressed.
Now here come the big boys. With Auston Matthews stating he will be ramping up his workouts it’s understandable that much of the media attention is on the empty spot vacated by Zach Hyman moving to Edmonton.
Yet that isn’t the only big question heading into training camp for the Toronto Maple Leafs. With how last season ended, and how this season is expected to go there is a lot of pressure on the players.
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, regardless of how Toronto performs in the upcoming campaign, has a massive offseason ahead of him. With Morgan Reilly, Jack Campbell and Rasmus Sandin all due for new deals it remains unclear how Dubas will work them into a team constantly under salary cap constraints.
Yet the pressure is probably highest on Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. After the exit to the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs some people were calling for Keefe to be fired. Whichever side of that argument you come down on, coming into this season it is hard to argue the glare is more concentrated than on the 41-year-old Brampton native.
Here are four big questions facing Sheldon Keefe entering training camp, and the Toronto Maple Leafs upcoming season.