Leafs unveil their official roster for tonight's game against the Red Wings
The Toronto Maple Leafs have returned home to Toronto following their 48-hour Gravenhurst trip and will play host to the Detroit Red Wings tonight in their 2nd-last pre-season game, with the finale coming against those same Red Wings on Saturday.
Many were curious as to whether the Leafs would ice a roster this evening that was closer to the actual season-opening lineup or whether they'd opt to dress more players who are on the bubble and who are looking for one last shot to prove their worth. This morning, the Leafs announced their official roster for tonight's game and it would appear to be the former.
The Leafs will be dressing a roster tonight that looks very close to the one they'll ice on opening night, with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares, with many of the other pieces you'd expect on the opening right roster, including both Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll dressing for this one. On defense, Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Jake McCabe, Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren lead the way, with Simon Benoit drawing in, skating as a placeholder for John Klingberg.
The biggest surprises here are obviously the presence of rookie Fraser Minten and young Pontus Holmberg. The presence of veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves suggests that he'll be on the opening night roster and not waived as some had previously suggested before camp, simply for the energy factor in front of the hometown crowd and some added protection against Arber Xhekaj and the Canadiens this upcoming Wednesday.
Interestingly enough, Easton Cowan and Nick Robertson are not in the lineup tonight. Prior to the Leafs heading to Gravenhurst, Robertson appeared to have an inside track at one of the bottom six roster spots. Then, during the Gravenhurst line rushes, Robertson had skated as an extra, alongside Kyle Clifford. With Cowan, Sheldon Keefe had stated that he originally planned to have the 18-year-old join the main group again when they were back from Gravenhurst. His absence from tonight's lineup likely means he'll be returned to London in the coming days, as was always the expectation.
Two pre-season games to go before the start of the regular season, folks. October 11th is coming fast.
| POLL | ||
5 OCTOBRE | 224 ANSWERS Leafs unveil their official roster for tonight's game against the Red Wings Do you think Ryan Reaves will be on the opening night roster? | ||
| Yes | 181 | 80.8 % |
| No | 43 | 19.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
