Keefe appears to confirm that the first wave of roster cuts are coming

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed on Saturday that he viewed Saturday as the final day of training camp. Now, with just 5 preseason contests remaining, Keefe says it's all about prepping for the regular season from here on out. You know what that means - the first wave of roster cuts!

After a quick look at the team's training camp roster, I think it's probably fair to assume that players like Joseph Blandisi, Pavel Gogolev, Logan Shaw, Graham Slaggert, Curtis Douglas, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Max Ellis, Noel Hoefenmayer, Mikko Kokkonen, Axel Rindell, Tommy Miller, Mac Hollowell, Rifai Marshall, Filip Kral and William Villeneuve will all be sent down, with Fraser Minten heading back to his WHL club. I'd imagine that Keefe will also trim at least two goalies - likely Dylan Ferguson, who is with the team on a PTO, and Hobey Baker winner Dryden McKay, leaving Matt Murray, Ilya Samsonov, Erik Kallgren and Keith Petruzzelli to continue rotating in and out throughout the remainder of the preseason.

A couple of names to watch for as these first cuts are released are Joey Anderson, Bobby McMann, Alex Steeves and Pontus Holmberg. All four of these players are expected to be in a tier above the first cuts who will receive longer looks and a realistic shot at battling for a roster spot. Wayne Simmonds, Kyle Clifford, Denis Malgin, Nick Robertson, Adam Gaudette, Zach Aston-Reese (PTO), Victor Mete, Jordie Benn and Carl Dahlstrom are likely the favourites to duke it out to land a spot on the team.

One thing is for sure. There's no shortage of competition in camp this year for the Buds - and the team will be better for it.