Maple Leafs Confirm Very Young Lineup for Saturday Night Showdown with Canadiens
The Toronto Maple Leafs are giving a number of young players, including Nikita Grebenkin, Easton Cowan and Topi Niemela, a chance to shine on Saturday in Montreal.
After putting together a thrilling 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday evening, the Maple Leafs are allowing their many of their top stars to rest and recover on Saturday, giving the kids a chance to play and show the coaching staff what they can offer as training camp passes the halfway mark. It also allows more time for veterans, such as John Tavares, to recover from injury.
The Leafs will soon be forced to make an additional wave of roster cuts, as the team begins to separate the true roster spot contenders from the players who will require additional time and seasoning in the American Hockey League. For this reason, it was important to allow many of the organization's up-and-comers one last opportunity to prove that they belong before the final two pre-season games next week.
Per the team's official PR account on Twitter/X, this is the lineup that the Leafs will be icing tonight in Montreal:
There are a few surefire NHLers in the mix, including Matthew Knies, Simon Benoit and Steven Lorentz, but also a number of bubble players hoping to earn a spot on the team (the aforementioned Cowan, Grebenkin, Niemela) and a few long-shots, like Jacob Quillan and Marshall Rifai set to dress.
In between the pipes, we'll get our first look at Artur Akhtyamov, who will augment Dennis Hildeby this evening. This may be the last opportunity for Hildeby to show what he is capable of before being sent back down to the Marlies, as Brad Treliving has already confirmed that Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll will each play a complete game to close out the pre-season next week.
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