Leafs confirm tonight's lineup; Robertson, Holmberg among the healthy scratches
Tonight is the night - the Leafs' final game of the 2022-23 preseason and it's happening at home in Toronto with what should resemble something pretty close to the season-opening roster.
The Leafs, via the team's official Twitter account, announced tonight's roster for the Leafs' preseason finale, and it includes 14 forwards, 8 defensemen and 2 goaltenders. Matt Murray will get the nod after Ilya Samsonov started last night in Detroit.
In terms of how the forward group will shake out, it would appear as though the finalists to make the main roster are Nick Robertson, Denis Malgin, Adam Gaudette and Pontus Holmberg. Many suspect that Robertson and Holmberg are two players who have done enough in camp to earn a roster spot, but according to Sheldon Keefe, they're the two scratches for tonight's game.
Keefe pointed to both Robertson and Holmberg, identifying them as two players who had excellent camps, so Keefe putting them in the press box tonight means this is likely Adam Gaudette and Denis Malgin's final opportunity to wow the coaching staff and make the final roster decisions very tough.
The forwards who will skate tonight are:
Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Engvall - Kerfoot - Jarnkrok
Malgin - Kampf - Nylander
Aston-Reese - Gaudette - Aube-Kubel
These are not necessarily the lines, just the players who are playing in the finale. I'm sure we'll see some mixing and matching throughout the night.
In terms of the defensive groups, Jake Muzzin will make his preseason debut tonight, likely skating with Justin Holl. Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie should form the team's top pair, as was the case for much of last season, which would leave Mark Giordano and Rasmus Sandin as the team's third pair - though there is a possibility that Keefe and company opt to ease Muzzin back in on the third pair. If that's the case, he could play with Sandin, with whom he had skated at camp last week.
It was originally thought that Victor Mete would sneak into the final game of the preseason, but after taking a Nick Robertson shot off the foot during a PK drill on Friday, he'll remain day-to-day with a foot injury. The x-rays came back negative on his foot, thankfully.
