Toronto Maple Leafs Make Several Cuts Monday Afternoon
Monday night the Toronto Maple Leafs will face-off against the Montreal Canadiens with the hometown team dressing an almost full opening night line-up.
Prior to the games, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they had made 27 cuts to their training camp roster.
The most notable name of the 17 forwards that were sent to the Toronto Marlies camp was forward Nick Abruzzese.
The former fourth round pick of the Maple Leafs will likely be one of the Marlies top players this season and will get a chance with the big club this season if injuries occur.
The New York native finished third on the Marlies in points last season with 48 in 69 games and also collected a pair of assists in two games with the Maple Leafs. In total, Abruzzese has suited up for the big team 11 times since turning pro at the end of the 2021-22 season and has three points.
Forward Cuts: Nick Abruzzese, Joseph Blandisi, Max Ellis, Roni Hirvonen, Braden Kressler, Robert Mastrosimone, Dmitry Ovchinnikov, Jay O’Brien, Neil Shea, Logan Shaw, Tate Singleton, Josiah Slavin, Alex Steeves, Keenan Stuthers, Ryan Tverberg, Ty Voit and Tyler Weiss.
Toronto Maple Leafs Top Defensive Prospect Cut
Among the seven defenseman cut was top defensive prospect Topi Niemelä. The former World Junior star for Finland came to North America late last season where he recorded two points in six regular season games with the Marlies, along with five more points in seven playoff games.
Niemelä is a former two-time World Junior player where he won a silver and bronze in consecutive years, as well as a handful of individual awards including top defenseman at the 2021 tournament.
Defense Cuts: Nolan Dillingham, Matthew Hellickson, Topi Niemelä, Matteo Pietroniro, Marshall Rifai, Jonny Tychonick and William Villeneuve.
The Toronto Maple Leafs also sent three of their goaltenders back to the Toronto Marlies camp which were Luke Cavallin, Dennis Hildeby and Vyacheslav Peksa.
None of these goaltender names are a surprise as the two jobs on the roster are almost locks with Joseph Woll and Ilya Samsonov.
Next. Key Week Ahead for Maple Leafs. dark
Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten both avoided the first round of cuts, however are not in the line-up for Monday nights game. Both players will likely remain with the team through the next week before being return to their junior clubs.