The Maple Leafs are dressing nearly their full NHL opening-night group in Toronto for Tuesday’s split-squad preseason finale against the Senators, with only the fourth-line forwards missing from that side’s lineup.
That means the Leafs’ Toronto group will look a lot closer to the real thing than a typical exhibition roster. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, Matthew Knies, Jack Roslovic, Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna are all in. So are the top defense pairings, with Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev, Morgan Rielly, Darren Raddysh, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Troy Stecher set to play in front of Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz.
The projected Toronto lines have Knies with Matthews and Roslovic, McKenna with Tavares and Nylander, Cowan with Nick Paul and Colton Sissons, and Michael Pezzetta with Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Zack MacEwen. On defense, McCabe and Tanev are paired together, Rielly is with Raddysh, and Ekman-Larsson skates beside Stecher.
In Ottawa, the Leafs are going with a much deeper preseason look. Teddy Blueger, Brendan Brisson, Brandon Duhaime, Luke Haymes, Miroslav Holinka, Tinus Luc Koblar, Vinni Lettieri, Steven Lorentz, Jacob Quillan, Henrik Rybinski, Landon Sim and Ryan Tverberg are among the forwards dressing there. The blue line includes Emil Andrae, Nick Blankenburg, Noah Chadwick, Ben Danford, Philippe Myers, Marshall Rifai and Blake Smith, with Ken Appleby, Samuel Hlavaj and Anthony Stolarz listed in goal.
Troy Stecher has quickly worked himself from the outside into a real shot at the opening-night roster. He got the edge in the battle for the sixth defense spot after what was described as the best night among the three undersized defensemen competing there - Andrae, Blankenburg and Stecher.
Against Montreal, Stecher helped with breakouts, knocked plays down and looked solid defensively while logging 21:24 next to Dakota Mermis. Blankenburg, who played 24:47, showed off his puck movement and mobility, especially on the power play, but was not as clean in his own end.
Andrae skated 17:46 in Toronto.
The Rielly-Raddysh pairing is another key thing to watch. Rielly did not play in the Montreal games, but he is in tonight’s lineup, giving the Leafs one more preseason chance to see whether that combination can work.
The team is also looking at something it has not had in a long time: true handedness balance across a healthy defense corps. The idea is simple enough - easier puck retrievals, cleaner first passes and less of the awkward backhand-to-forehand work that can slow down breakouts.
Up front, the Matthews and Tavares lines still have something to prove at five-on-five. The Matthews unit was outshot 7-2 at five-on-five against Montreal and neither of the top two lines scored, even though Matthews and McKenna had good looks. With the regular season six days away, both lines are still searching for a finish to match the chances.
Dakota Joshua is not on either roster and has been skating with the Marlies group. He ended last season injured, appeared to begin camp injured and now looks to be on the outside looking in if he is fully healthy.
With two years left on his deal at $3.25 million AAV, the club could send him through waivers for extra roster flexibility. Bo Groulx would need waivers too and could be vulnerable after what he showed for the Marlies and the Leafs last season.
Puck drop is 7 p.m. EST. The Toronto game is on Sportsnet One, while the Ottawa game is on TSN4 in the Leafs’ viewing region and TSN5 in the Senators’ viewing region.
The Senators’ lineup in Toronto features Burakovsky, Stützle and Batherson up front, with Amadio, Pinto and Tomasino on the next line. Their defense pairs include Kleven-Yakemchuk, Bolduc-Matinpalo and Harrington-Kyrou, with Merilainen and Parsons in goal.
For Ottawa’s game against the Leafs’ B squad, the Senators are using Eklund-Cozens-Zetterlund, Cousins-Halliday-Giroux, Blais-Greig-Boucher and Montgomery-Suzuki-Bourgault up front. Their defense groups are Chabot-Stanley, Hamara-Toure and Hutton-Crotty, with Ullmark and Ersson in net.
In Other News...
Leafs Already Have An Early Regret Watching Two Ex-Forwards Shine
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Matias Maccelli has done the same with the Islanders after signing a one-year contract, piling up three points in his preseason debut. He, too, is showing the sort of early chemistry and creativity that made him an intriguing fit before his time with Toronto ended. The Leafs are only in the opening stages of a new season, but watching two former forwards start strong in new uniforms is the sort of reminder that roster decisions can linger far beyond training camp. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs May Have Found The Blue Line Balance They Need
The Maple Leafs are still in the stage where the blue line is more puzzle than finished product, but the pieces are starting to make sense. Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev look like the kind of steady, defense-first pairing that can handle tough minutes, while Morgan Rielly alongside Darren Raddysh offers a different sort of balance with more puck movement and support from the back end.
What remains unsettled is the third pair, and that is where Torontos depth chart still feels open to interpretation. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Troy Stecher, Emil Andrae and Nick Blankenburg are all in the mix as the Leafs sort through options, and with time still left before the season, the club can keep weighing fit, role and chemistry before locking in its final look. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Blue Line Battle Just Got More Serious
The Maple Leafs are tightening the screws on their blue line as training camp moves toward opening night, putting defensemen Cole McWard and Dakota Mermis on waivers while they trim the roster ahead of the upcoming NHL season. Mermis saw action in 11 games for Toronto last year, while McWard arrived as a free agent signing this summer, and both had been part of the group fighting for a role in the teams defensive depth.
The move is another sign that the back end is still very much up for grabs, with several players competing for the limited spots available. Toronto still has decisions to make before the lineup is finalized, and these waiver moves suggest the margins are getting thinner by the day for anyone hoping to stick. [Read more 🡒]