After a few very tough training camp sessions under new Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, the Leafs have selected their official roster for their pre-season opener against the Ottawa Senators in Sunday.
The roster was revealed by Leafs beat reporter David Alter of The Hockey News on Sunday morning just before 10:00 am ET, and features a good mix of young and veteran players, including the entire Core 4, Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Jacob Quillan, Easton Cowan and Noah Chadwick. This will be Auston Matthews' first opportunity to take to the ice for competitive game action as captain of the team.
The Leafs appear to have put a real emphasis on starting the pre-season off on a strong note, dressing a lot of their top guys in hopes of establishing their dominance early on against a heated divisional rival in the Ottawa Senators.
Tonight's game will take place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and will see Matt Murray and Joseph Woll sharing the net, with Woll and Murray likely swapping at the midway point of the second period to ensure that both netminders get a good look.
I'm eager to see how Matt Murray looks this evening after former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton's recent comments about how good Murray has looked this summer.
Matthew Knies, Nikita Grebenkin, and Cade Webber will all also dress this evening, giving the Leafs a lot of young legs in the lineup.
POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 22 | 888 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Unveil Interesting Roster for Game One of the Pre-Season Against Ottawa Which member of the Core 4 will have the most surprising season for the Leafs in 2024-25? | ||
Matthews | 101 | 11.4 % |
Tavares | 193 | 21.7 % |
Nylander | 208 | 23.4 % |
Marner | 386 | 43.5 % |
List of polls |