Toronto Maple Leafs Training Camp: 3 Things to Watch For
The New Guys
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said he wanted to add players with more grit to their game. Players that get in your face and won’t back down. Players who stand up for their teammates.
Treliving added NHL heavyweight Ryan Reaves and pesky forwards Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi. One might not classify all three as fighters (Reaves is), but they will play an in-your-face style and not back down from confrontation.
Domi and Bertuzzi are also here to provide secondary scoring. Last season, Domi registered 20 goals and 36 assists for 56 points in 80 games. More importantly, he had 13 points in 19 playoff games.
Bertuzzi missed a lot of time last season due to injury but still managed to register 30 points in 50 games. He is one season removed from posting 62 points in 68 games.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)
They’re not the only players Treliving added to the Leafs for secondary scoring. He also signed free-agent defenseman John Klingberg. Klingberg registered ten goals and 23 assists for 33 points in 67 games. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe will now have Klingberg and Morgan Rielly as scoring threats from the blueline.
Other new players trying to earn a roster spot on the team are forward Dylan Gambrell and defenseman Simon Benoit. Gambrell registered ten points in 60 games with the Ottawa Senators last season, and Benoit registered ten points in 78 games with the Anaheim Ducks. Both could start the season in the AHL if they clear waivers.
Last but not least is veteran goaltender Martin Jones. It is expected that the Leafs will start the season with Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll as their goaltending tandem. Jones is here as added insurance if one of those two gets hurt.
Toronto Maple Leafs Power Play
Last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs finished with the second-best power play in the NHL at 26.0%. They were well behind the first-place Edmonton Oilers (32.4%), so there is room for improvement. However, when you finish that high in a special-teams category, you know you did a lot of good things.
Spencer Carbery, who ran the Leafs power play last season, left to become the head coach of the Washington Capitals.
The Leafs hired Guy Boucher to run the power play this season, so we’ll see if he changes anything.
One thing people will be watching for is how he uses Morgan Rielly and John Klingberg. Will he put them together or have them each quarterback their own unit? I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries both scenarios during camp and pre-season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Penalty Kill
The Leafs penalty kill was not as good as their power play last season, but they still finished 12th in the league with 81.9%.
The Leafs re-signed David Kampf, who was a big part of their PK success last season. Mitch Marner will likely remain a penalty killer as he’s proven to be very good at it.
One surprise from media day was that Sheldon Keefe said the team plans to try Matthews on PK during camp. We can’t blame them for wanting to have the NHL’s top shot-blocking forward on the PK, but it could also increase his risk of getting hurt. I guess we’ll see how it goes and if it extends into the regular season.
The Young Guys
The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a few young guys trying to earn a spot during training camp.
Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson are the two names at the top of the list.
Robertson is looking to stay healthy and earn a spot he believes he should have earned already. Sadly, injuries got in his way, so now he is out to prove himself.
Knies showed he could play at the NHL level during the 2023 playoffs. Now, he’s at camp to earn a permanent spot on the team.
He received a bit of an endorsement from Matthews during media day. When asked about Knies, Matthews stated that he believes Knies can play a full 82-game NHL season.
There are a number of prospects at camp that fans should be excited to watch in pre-season action.
Fraser Minten, Ty Voit, Ryan Tverberg, Topi Niemela, and Easton Cowan, to name a few, but there are many more. Another player to watch at camp is 25-year-old Noah Gregor.
He is at camp on a Professional Tryout (PTO). He’s not only trying to earn a roster spot, but he’s also trying to earn a contract.
Next. Analyzing the Leafs Blue-Line. dark
As you can see, there is a lot to focus on during training camp and pre-season games. The best part of it all is we are that much closer to the start of another NHL regular season. The work starts now, and we’ll find out soon enough if this is the Toronto Maple Leafs year.