Robertson cracks 30-man roster, but will he play?
The Maple Leafs are in the bubble and their roster is on ice.
Players, coaches and the rest of their travelling party made the short trip to their new home at the Royal York Hotel on Sunday, not far from Scotiabank Arena and a short drive from the Ford Performance Centre practice complex.
Teams are allowed up to 31 players — and 52 people in all — inside the restricted NHL hub, where they will stay for as long as they last in the 24-team tournament for the Stanley Cup. Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said recently that he wanted a roster of 28 or 29 for the playoff run. In the end, they went with 30, with no real surprises among the selections. At 18, junior sensation Nick Robertson did make the cut.
Here’s a breakdown of that roster and what to expect:
FORWARDS (16)
The top six are set — Auston Matthews centring William Nylander and Zach Hyman, and John Tavares between Mitch Marner and Ilya Mikheyev. Coach Sheldon Keefe, however, has been looking at putting Matthews, Marner and Tavares together on one highpowered trio in certain situations, such as the start and end of a period. It should be fun to watch if Keefe gives them the nod to hop over the boards.
> The rest: Kyle Clifford, Pierre Engvall, Frederik Gauthier, Andreas Johnsson (injured), Kasperi Kapanen, Alex Kerfoot, Denis Malgin, Nic Petan, Jason Spezza and Robertson. Kapanen’s progress in training camp was an eye-opener. After a so-so start, he flashed his speed and a physical element that was starting to emerge before the NHL paused on March 11 because of the pandemic. The Leafs now have two physical forwards in the bottom six in Kapanen and Clifford.
> Kudos to Robertson, the OHL grad who enters the playoff race with no NHL games under his belt. He scored 55 goals for Peterborough last season and performed well in camp. While it’s hard to see Robertson displacing the likes of Engvall or Gauthier in the qualifying round against Columbus, Dubas and Keefe don’t always follow traditional thinking. Keefe also had Engvall and Spezza taking reps at centre on the final day of camp, which suggested the coaching staff was at least thinking about how Robertson could fit into the mix on the wing. Robertson will get a solid look in Tuesday’s exhibition game against Montreal, and maybe more.
DEFENCE (10)
Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl will form the shutdown pair against the opposition’s top line. Cody Ceci will hang back a bit while partner Morgan Rielly rolls with his speed and offence. The third pair is Travis Dermott and Tyson Barrie. Rasmus Sandin, Calle Rosen, Martin Marincin and Timothy
Liljegren are the backups in case of injury.
> Liljegren was deemed unfit to play — the league’s blanket description for injuries and illnesses during the pandemic — for training camp and didn’t practise, but has been skating with the reserves for the past week and appears to have been cleared to play.
> The Leafs will need a counter to Blue Jackets star defenceman Seth Jones, who is a threat offensively and defensively.
GOALIES (4)
The Leafs are among 13 teams carrying four goalies. Frederik Anderson remains the clear No. 1 and will be relied on heavily if the defence has trouble containing the Blue Jackets’ forecheck and cycle game. Jack Campbell is the backup, with Kasimir Kaskisuo and Joseph Woll available if needed.