The Toronto Maple Leafs make their preseason debut at Scotiabank Arena Tuesday night as they are hosting the Ottawa Senators in what should at the very least be an entertaining game.
The first exhibition game did end up going in the Leafs’ favour, as a group of current Marlies, depth players, and prospects ended up beating the Senators on their home turf by a score of 4-3 – but on Tuesday night we could have even more of a bloodbath.
For the first preseason game at home in front of (more) Leafs fans, Toronto is going to be putting out on the ice a roster that looks very close to what we could see when they open their season on October 9 against the Montreal Canadiens. Oh, and they’re facing a visiting Senators squad that doesn’t have a whole lot of NHL talent on it, too.
When: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena
TV: TSN4, TSN5
Projected lineups
Toronto Maple Leafs
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Matias Maccelli
Bobby McMann – John Tavares – William Nylander
Dakota Joshua – Luke Haymes – Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz – Scott Laughton – Easton Cowan
Morgan Rielly – Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Ben Danford
Dennis HIldeby
(Artur Akhtyamov)
Ottawa Senators
Arthur Kaliyev – Dylan Cozens – Fabian Zetterlund
Nick Cousins – Shane Pinto – Michael Amadio
Olle Lycksell – Stephen Halliday – Tyler Boucher
Xavier Bourgault – Garret Pilon – Hayden Hodgson
Jake Sanderson – Carter Yakemchuk
Tomas Hamara – Artem Zub
Donovan Sebrango – Nikolas Matinpalo
Leevi Merilainen
(Tyler Parsons)
Players to watch
Morgan Rielly
All eyes are on how Rielly starts this season. After getting to have a little bit of a heart-to-heart with head coach Craig Berube over the summer, the veteran blueliner is expected to at least improve on his below-average performance last season. Now, he makes his preseason debut in front of a home crowd looking for something more.
Could he maybe use this potential domination against a weaker roster as a jumping off point? And to maybe get some confidence that he can actually get as involved offensively as he was during his peak years? Possibly. But that’s why he’s one to watch out for.
Matias Maccelli
It’s not only Maccelli’s debut as a Toronto Maple Leaf but he gets to do it next to Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies of all people. This will be his massive try-out. Berube has already stated publicly that he envisions Maccelli and Max Domi competing as the frontrunners to replace Mitch Marner on that line, and with Domi not with the team in Ottawa, now is the time to take advantage and show everyone what you can do.
Dylan Cozens
After being acquired by the Senators in the middle of last season, and being rescued from the tire fire that is the Buffalo Sabres, Dylan Cozens is now able to start a season with actual playoff aspirations. Projected to be one of the top-six centres in Ottawa, the 24-year-old from Whitehorse, Yukon might be able to make some damage Tuesday in Toronto. Well, he might be one of the only forwards on the Senators that can make that claim.