Confident Leafs open camp with wealth of options
The Toronto Maple Leafs opened camp Thursday looking to build on last season’s promising platform and a sparkling array of young talent.
The Leafs listed 73 players on their roster with attention focused on three veteran newcomers: forwards Patrick Marleau and Dominic Moore and defenceman Ron Hainsey, who have 3,247 NHL regular-season games between them.
Led by rookie of the year Auston Matthews, the Leafs finished with 95 points during the regular season — up from 69 the previous season.
While expectations are high among fans after that, defenceman Morgan Rielly put the past season in perspective.
“We’re happy with some strides forward that we took last year, but when you look back at it, I think we made the playoffs on the last day of the year and lost in the first round,” he said. “So we’ve got a long way to go to get to where we want to and we’re all aware of that.”
Added GM Lou Lamoriello: “We’re still growing.”
Coach Mike Babcock finds himself with a wealth of options up front, with the addition of Marleau and Moore. The Leafs had three successful lines last season in Matthews, William Nylander and Zach Hyman; Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner; and Nazem Kadri, Leo Komorov and Connor Brown. Add in Matt Martin, Nikita Soshnikov, Josh Leivo and other fourth-line contenders, and the numbers game is very tight.
As for who Marleau will play with, Babcock said he told the former San Jose Shark he wasn’t sure, “but they’re all good.”
Hainsey, who won the Cup with Pittsburgh last season after joining the Penguins from Carolina, will bolster a defence that includes Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev.
Veteran Roman Polak is also back in camp, this time on a professional tryout. The 31-year-old Czech is coming off a gruesome leg injury during last spring’s playoffs.
Frederik Andersen returns as the No. 1 goalie. But this time he is healthy from the get-go. Reducing the goals against will be a priority this season. They gave up 234 last season, ninth-worst in the league.
The Leafs will once again go without a captain this season. Matthews, who turns 20 on Sunday, is widely expected to wear the C when the team decides he is ready.
“To me what training camp’s all about is you get to show off how much work you did in the summer,” Babcock said, noting Matthews added Pilates to his workouts.
Babcock singled out Kadri, saying the 26-year-old had “the best summer since I’ve known him.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Lamoriello said Nathan Horton and Joffrey Lupul, both long-term injury absentees, failed their medicals.
Toronto opens the pre-season Monday in Ottawa and are back home to the Sens Tuesday.