Toronto Maple Leafs First Cuts, Marner News etc.

The Toronto Maple Leafs training camp has opened quite quietly, with few surprises and not much news so far.

The new Toronto Maple Leafs coach surprised no one when he announced that William Nylander would suit up at centre this season for the team (or that is at least the plan, but it might not work since Nylander hasn't played that position since he was drafted).

There was a slight suprise when Berube said Domi would be on the line with Nylander (because of Domi's previous success with Matthews) but no one really took it seriously - Domi/Matthews was too good not to go back to, and every coach is going to want to pair Marner/Matthews, at least to start. The important thing was that Domi isn't going to be playing centre, where he is barely a replacement level player.

Other than that, the start to camp was pretty quiet other than a few unfortunate injuries suffered at the rookie camp.

Toronto Maple Leafs First Cuts, Marner News etc.

Of course Training Camp is going to be dominated by talk about the Mitch Marner Situation. It was cute when Marner tried to say he wouldn't let it be a distraction - good luck with that bud - but it's already a major distraction and will be every day until he is signed.

Good news on that front: Elliotte Friedman had the kind of news item that usually comes out before a player ends up signing. The fact it's being reported on is good news because we just had about six months of eery silence on the topic.

Interestingly, Marner said - via Fredman - that he is willing to negotiate during the season. Of course he is, since one of best friends made an extra $10 or so million with that strategy just last year.

In more pressing news, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the first cuts of this years training camp.

The Leafs cut Sam McCue, Maxim Muranov, Miroslav Holinka, Marshall Finne and Nathan Mayes. If you've heard of any of those guys, congratulations you are a major hockey fiend.

Mayes, Holinka and McCue are late Leafs picks from this past draft, while Muranov, and Finne are undrafted. These players never had a chance to make the team and that is why they are leaving early. Hopefully their experiences were positive and will help turn them into more viable prospects at a later date.