Insider Shares Interesting News Regarding Maple Leafs Training Camp
Brad Treliving and Craig Berube may be intentionally trying to create a much more competitive environment during this year's Maple Leafs training camp.
Each and every fall, when players arrive for training camp, we tend to have a pretty good idea about who is going to make the NHL roster, with maybe one or two exceptions. Last year, we saw Noah Gregor turn a PTO into a standard player contract with the Leafs, and rookie center Fraser Minten make the team out of camp. This year, there appears to be more question marks.
Not only did the Leafs finally come to terms with Nick Robertson on a new 1-year contract this week, they also put pen to paper with Jani Hakanpaa on his 1-year contract. In addition, Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz have inked professional tryout agreements, with Pacioretty said to be earmarked for an actual NHL contract before the end of camp and the pre-season.
To add another layer of complication to the program, the Leafs have a number of younger players fighting for a roster spot as rookies Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten lead the charge to challenge for a roster spot, along with a pair of dark horses in Nikita Grebenkin and Alex Steeves. With so many players competing for limited spots, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed during his most recent 32 Thoughts podcast that it's all by design.
I think they want the competition, I think they want to see who it drives, and it wouldn't surprise me, like you don't have to have your roster set until the day before the season begins, so it wouldn't shock me if the Leafs let this play out a little bit. I think that is their plan. Again, you could get a good offer and say 'ah, we've gotta take this'... I think they're interested in making their camp a little more competitive, so we'll see where it goes."
We know that there's only one top-6 roster spot available and potentially one bottom-6 roster spot available. With as many as 7 or 8 players fighting for those spots, the level of competition is going to be extremely high. Similarly, on defense, the Leafs have most of their blueline set, aside from that 3rd pairing RHD spot. Hakanpaa, Liljegren and perhaps even Topi Niemela could make a push there.
In goal, the Leafs have a crowded crease as well, with Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz likely filling the 1A and 1B slots, but Matt Murray will come to camp with every intention of cutting into their workloads, and rookie sensation Dennis Hildeby could also make life difficult for Trelving and company by coming in and having a strong camp.
Ultimately, I think Treliving and Berube have made a wise decision here. Nothing should be handed to anyone. If the goal is building a competitive team who is difficult to play against each and every night, it should all begin with a competitive training camp. That very much appears to be the plan here, and whatever happens in camp, the opening night roster spots should go to the players that earn it. With camp beginning next week, we should be prepared for some intense battles and an exciting pre-season.
Source: Elliotte Friedman, Sportsnet32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Sid's Coming Back
| POLL | ||
13 SEPTEMBRE | 844 ANSWERS Insider Shares Interesting News Regarding Maple Leafs Training Camp Do you believe we're going to see a much more competitive training camp than normal this year? | ||
| Yes | 707 | 83.8 % |
| No | 60 | 7.1 % |
| Probably about the same as last year | 77 | 9.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
