A Review of the 2021-22 Opening Night Toronto Maple Leafs Roster

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The Toronto Maple Leafs opened their campaign last season with a 2-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at the Scotiabank Arena.

Although the majority of that opening night roster remains with the team, several will not be playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs next season.

Looking back, there are some names that barely lasted a few weeks in Toronto and others we’ve only recently seen depart at free agency.

With the idea of comparing them to where the team is right now, here is a reminder of last season’s opening night roster.

Toronto Maple Leafs Goalies On 2021-22 Opening Night

Opening night saw the Toronto Maple Leafs moving on from Freddie Andersen, who departed in that summer’s free agency, with the starting spot going to a goalie that had yet to prove himself a true number-one goalie, and still really hasn’t.

Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell, of course, ended up going on to represent the team at the NHL All-Star Game and at one point seemed a decent chance at winning the Vezina Trophy.

Then December started, and he was among the worst goalies in the league the rest of the way. His form diminished as the season went on and this summer the Toronto Maple Leafs opted to move on from him, allowing him to sign a deal as an unrestricted free agent with the Edmonton Oilers.

He will earn $5 million per season for the next 5 years in Alberta; a price that the Leafs were wise to pass on.

Backup: Petr Mrazek

Backing Campbell up was Petr Mrazek, who also finds himself no longer lining up for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Arriving as a great choice to partner Campbell in a true 1A/1B tandem, he never really filled anyone with much confidence.

He’ll be sporting a Chicago Blackhawks jersey this coming season, with the remaining two years of his $3.8 million per season contract moved in a trade of draft picks.

Ultimately, all it cost to get rid of Mrazek was 13 slots in the draft, after the player the Leafs wanted was already gone. They ended up with their second choice, the player they would have kept if they had not made this trade, based on who was available at the time. Therefore, the cost to move Mrazek was negligable.

TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 13: Cole Caufield #22 of the Montreal Canadiens . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Toronto Maple Leafs Defense On 2021-22 Opening Night

The Toronto Maple Leafs lined up with a defensive group not too dissimilar from what we might expect ahead of the new season.

Of course, by the time the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs rolled around, the group looked quite difference with the mid-season additions of Ilya Lyubushkin and Mark Giordano, but on opening night of the 2021-22 season, the pairings were:

Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie

This pairing seems most likely to remain intact for the opening night of the 2022-23 season, with Morgan Rielly commencing the first year of a new deal seeing him paid $7.5 million per season; a significant raise on his previous $5 million per season.

T.J. Brodie provides a level of security for the Toronto Maple Leafs alongside Rielly, given the tendency towards offence from the latter.

Neither player seems likely to be going anywhere and you can all but guarantee them lining up together on opening night again this season.

Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl

Often utilized by Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe as his shutdown pairing, right now, they both remain members of the roster.

Both players are routinely floated in trade ruminations; Justin Holl because his $2 million contract feels easily moveable, while Jake Muzzin sports a steeper $5.625 million per season contract and showed some level of decline with his performances across last season.

As such, it’s not completely unbelievable that either player isn’t lining up in Toronto Maple Leafs colours on opening night.

Rasmus Sandin and Travis Dermott

The third pairing on defense on opening night last season was the duo of Travis Dermott and Rasmus Sandin.

Dermott was sent to the Vancouver Canucks in return for a 2022 third round pick. He played 17 games for the Canucks post-trade and projects to line-up on Vancouver’s third pairing come their opening night.

Rasmus Sandin meanwhile, despite showing decent potential finds himself in a bit of a contract stalemate with the Leafs.

Right now, he hasn’t inked a contract but the Leafs are unlikely to move on from a 23 year old with his potential, so he will likely be in the opening night lineup in some fashion.

Scratched: Timothy Liljegren

The seventh defenseman, scratched for opening night was Timothy Liljegren, who seems unlikely to be a healthy scratch come opening night of the new season. He really staked a strong claim to his spot in the line-up in the second half of last season.

TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 13: John Tavares #91, William Nylander #88, and Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Toronto Maple Leafs Forwards On 2021-22 Opening Night

The forward group for the Toronto Maple Leafs isn’t going to look quite the same when they skate out for the 2022-23 season.

Indeed, Auston Matthews will be looking to be ready opening night this time around. After all, he was scratched versus Montreal last season, due to wrist surgery that August.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had three forwards making their debut with the team; two of whom have already moved on ahead of the new campaign.

The opening night forward lines, per Natural Stat Trick, were:

John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Nick Ritchie

Two of the Toronto Maple Leafs opening night top line aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Both John Tavares and Mitch Marner will no doubt be among the first names on the team sheet to start the new season.

Nick Ritchie, meanwhile, was a summer signing that ultimately didn’t pan out. He will be lining up for the Arizona Coyotes this season, after a mid-season trade saw Ryan Dzingel and Ilya Lyubushkin arrive in Toronto in return for Ritchie and a conditional second or third round draft pick.

Alex Kerfoot, Michael Bunting and William Nylander

While this line didn’t last, with last season’s opening night prize, Michael Bunting showing impressive chemistry with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner; all three project to be on the Leafs opening night roster.

The only exception to that is the fact that Alex Kerfoot is routinely floated as a trade candidate due to a very well-priced $3.5 million per season deal. Before opening night, it doesn’t feel impossible to see him dealt.

David Kampf, Ondrej Kase and Pierre Engvall

Both David Kampf and Ondrej Kase were making their respective debuts in this game. Kampf, who arrived as a sneaky addition after his contract wasn’t renewed by the Chicago Blackhawks, proved a valuable player for the Maple Leafs finally giving their third line a true defensive identity.

Likewise, Ondrej Kase was a new arrival that held plenty of promise. He was signed to a relatively low-risk cheap contract and ended up proving himself good value, when he wasn’t injured.

Ultimately though, his history of concussions ended up damaging his standing with the team and he moved on this summer and will open the new season with the Carolina Hurricanes. The $1.5 million they’re paying him too steep of a price for Toronto.

Pierre Engvall just recently signed on for another season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, earning a $1 million raise from his $1.25 million contract last year; expect Kampf and Engvall to be reuinted next year.

Jason Spezza, Michael Amadio and Wayne Simmonds

Jason Spezza, despite still proving valuable to the Toronto Maple Leafs at times last season, ultimately decided to hang up his skates this summer.

He won’t be skating out for the team on opening night, but will no doubt be watching on from the press box in his new role as Special Assistant to the General Manager.

Michael Amadio, meanwhile found himself in Las Vegas, waived after just 3 games with Toronto to balance the team’s salary cap. He had a decent campaign in ‘Sin City’ too, netting 11 goals in a 53-game foray.

Wayne Simmonds is the only member of this line that remains active on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster ahead of the new season, though even he may face an uphill battle to claim a spot in their 2022-23 opening night line-up.

Scratch: Auston Matthews

It’s seldom that you see Auston Matthews scratched, but off-season wrist surgery forced him to miss the opening night, before going on an insane 60 goals in 60 games run.

Next. Don't Expect a Big Trade. dark

At this point the opening night lineup is not 100% clear, but we do know that with the Leafs top-heavy cap philosophy, the season-to-season turn over is quite high with this team.

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