Roster positions finalized for Leafs’ opening night

It is always a difficult day throughout the NHL when rosters have to be finalized for opening night. Worthy players sometimes take a gut punch and are sent packing or to the minor leagues. For the Maple Leafs, it meant placing veteran forwards Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford on waivers, along with centre Adam Gaudette and defenceman Victor Mete. It meant sending the promising winger Nicholas Robertson back to the Toronto Marlies on Monday even though he had an excellent training camp.

Simmonds, Clifford and the others went unclaimed and will likely report to the American Hockey League’s Marlies as well. Robertson was more a victim of numbers, the salary cup and manoeuvrability.

“You are going to have players you otherwise would have in the NHL that are going to have to start in the American League,” Sheldon Keefe, the Maple Leafs head coach, said after practice. “With Nick, it was a tough decision.

“We have seen tremendous growth in Nick throughout this training camp. We are encouraged with where his game is at and have all the confidence he will be back here when needed.”

Toronto will begin the season in Montreal on Wednesday with 12 forwards, six defenceman and goalies Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov.

Denis Malgin won the roster position over Robertson with an equally strong showing in training camp, plus the fact that the club feared it would lose him if placed on waivers. Robertson could be sent back to the AHL without being waived.

Malgin, 25, will play on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander. Malgin had four goals and a team-high eight points during the preseason; Robertson had three goals and also eight points.

Malgin’s parents are Russian but he was born in Switzerland. He has already played nearly 200 games in the NHL, mostly with the Panthers, although he spent the last two years with clubs in the Swiss National League.

He also had a brief stint with the Maple Leafs in 2020.

“I knew I could play here and I think I showed it, too,” he said. “I am happy to be here.”

Said Tavares on his linemate: “This time around he seems really comfortable with himself and his game and his confidence is really growing.”

The team captain, who suffered an oblique injury on Sept. 27, returned to practice on Monday. The injury was expected to cause him to miss the beginning of the season but the 32-year-old is ahead of schedule.

“So far I am really happy with where I am,” Tavares said. “It is good to be back out there with the group regardless of what my status is. Physically I felt pretty good.

“My thought today was to go out there like a normal practice. I did not want to be measured and feel my way through things.”

Tavares said he will be reassessed on Tuesday by the team’s medical staff.

“Chances only probably grow every day that I will be in the lineup on Wednesday if I continue to make progress,” he said. “I want to be a part [of opening day] more than anybody but I also understand the big picture and want to be smart about it for the team as well.

“You understand the long grind of the year and you try to make the best decision possible with all of the variables in play, but everything has been trending in the right direction.”

Keefe named Murray, who stopped 63 of the 65 shots he faced during preseason, to start in net against the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Samsonov will start on Thursday in the club’s home opener against his former team, the Washington Capitals.

The Maple Leafs will practise in Etobicoke on Tuesday before they board a flight to Montreal. Monday’s practice was a lively session that included Jake Muzzin taking an accidental elbow in the face from Alexander Kerfoot but the burly defenceman seemed none the worse for wear.

Fellow blueliners Timothy Liljegren and Jordie Benn have both been placed on long-term injured reserve but the team otherwise looks as healthy as it has been and ready to start another long campaign.

Source link