Leafs facing a potential roster issue for Wednesday's season opener in Montreal
The Leafs did their due diligence to piece together a highly competitive roster that fits under the league's $82.5M salary cap on Monday, following an equally highly competitive training camp. The only problem is, the Leafs were forced to go with a 20-man roster, instead of the maximum allowable 23-man roster. Even more concerning, the Leafs' 20-man roster is contingent on John Tavares being healthy enough to open the season in Montreal on Wednesday.
Well, there was a bit of a scare in that department, as it had originally appeared as though Tavares may not be ready to return to action on Wednesday and the Leafs might indeed be forced to play with a 19-man roster, down a forward on Wednesday. It started when William Nylander was playing center on Tuesday at practice, with Adam Gaudette skating as a placeholder on line 2, despite being waived on Sunday and assigned to the Marlies on Monday.
Thankfully, Tavares came out a short time later and resumed skating with his line mates in the 2C spot, in between the aforementioned Nylander and Denis Malgin, who earned a roster spot in camp with his exceptional play.
Tavares is still not completely out of the woods. He could still end up being a game-time decision against the Habs, sitting in the press box as the Buds go with a 11F - 6D - 2G structure. Hopefully his presence at practice means he'll play.
Should Tavares suffer any sort of a setback and remain sidelined, the team will be eligible to recall Nick Robertson on an emergency basis on Thursday, as was stated over the weekend, which would put the Leafs back at 20 players against the Washington Capitals for Thursday's home opener back at Scotiabank Arena.
Tavares strained his oblique muscle early on in training camp and after facing a projected 3-week recovery timeline, he had returned to practice ahead of schedule after the 2-week mark. The 32-year-old was a full-contact participant in practice over the long weekend.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 11 | 193 ANSWERS Leafs facing a potential roster issue for Wednesday's season opener in Montreal If Tavares misses Wednesday's opener in Montreal, who should play 2C? | ||
| Nylander | 117 | 60.6 % |
| Kerfoot | 54 | 28 % |
| Jarnkrok | 22 | 11.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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