Toronto Maple Leafs to Finally End Interminable Preseason Schedule

The Toronto Maple Leafs wrap up the preseason tonight against the Ottawa Senators.

Training camp always seems to take forever, but since this is the second Toronto Maple Leafs camp we’ve been through in 2021, it seems to be downright Sisyphean.

Tonight’s game will likely be televised, but with 82 + games on the horizon, my son and I are going to skip it in favor of trying to obtain our fourth large Materia in Final Fantasy 7.

Of course, that probably means I’ll miss out on something cool like a bench clearing brawl, but what can you do?

Thoughts on Toronto Maple Leafs Training Camp

To me the most surprising thing about camp is that there were no surprises.  Bunting and Ritchie will get first crack at the job openings, like we’ve suspected for months.  The team still thinks really highly of Mikheyev, and no PTOs will make the opening night roster.

I guess the one sort of surprising thing is that (if we go by practice lines, which might not be accurate) then Timothy Liljegren seems to have beat out Travis Dermott.   I guess it’s not too shocking that Liljegren (who I’ve pointed out repeatedly has had solid results when he plays) is better on his natural side than Dermott is on his off-side, but I wouldn’t bet against Dermott playing in game one anyways.

In other news, the Leafs were picked by only one NHL.com writer out of 16 to win the Stanley Cup, which is as hilarious as it is ridiculous.  Nine people picked Colorado, which is kind of weird because they can get by the first round, but that’s it!

The Avs have had eight seasons with Nathan MackInnon and have lost in the second round three years in a row.  Before that, they lost in the first round and, five years ago, failed to make the playoffs.

It’s interesting to see how people view the two teams, since the Leafs playoff failures seem to be held against them much more harshly.  Would it really have made such a difference if the Leafs got by Montreal only to lose in the next round?

In other prediction news, people continue to massively overrate the Islanders and Panthers.

For what it’s worth, nine NHL.com writers think Tampa will win the Atlantic, five think the Panthers will win it, and only two smart writers think the Toronto Maple Leafs will.

If you want more accurate and interesting predictions, I reccomend the Athletic which uses a mathematical model to predict the standings – and they have the Leafs as the NHL’s second best team behind Colorado.

That’s more like it!