On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced their first major round of cuts that involved 27 players, including one of their top prospects in Topi Niemela.
With just a little over a week away from the first puck drop of the 2023-24 NHL regular season, there are still some hopefuls remaining in camp that are eyeing a spot on the Toronto Maple Leafs final roster heading into Opening Night.
Among the hopefuls include a mixture of veteran players with prior NHL experience, along with some solid prospects within the Leafs organization.
They will have just the upcoming two games left in the preseason to do their best to convince Sheldon Keefe and the Leafs management to keep them with the big club.
Some of the candidates, such as Noah Gregor and Mikko Kokkonen, may have done enough already to guarantee themselves a spot on the roster with their strong play so far during the preseason.
However, with a few spots left to fill, who else will be up for the challenge and secure one of the remaining spots on the roster?
Here, we will take a look at three candidates that will surprise the competition by making the finalized team roster for Opening Night.