At the time of writing this, half of the Leafs preseason is over and the regular season is a week and a half away. While the early games of the preseason and highlights from training camp are often the most exciting times (it’s nice to start believing in Ryan Tverberg again), the remaining time is where the Leafs lineup will truly begin to shape and it seems likely that a serious round of cuts won’t be far behind the end of Saturday night’s game against Montreal.
Here are some stray thoughts on the Leafs:
Treliving and the search for a top six winger
In general, the Leafs fall somewhere between excited and have made their peace with moving on from Mitch Marner. The fact that Berube is excited to stop the “Core Four” talk and Auston Matthews is trying to put a drop dead day on discussion of the topic of Marner shows the organization’s intent to move forward. Brad Treliving has brought in an interesting new collection of players to give the roster a different feel, but while the Leafs have done interesting things, there hasn’t been any luck in finding higher end talent and Brad Treliving’s focus seems to be on addressing the position that was vacated by Mitch.
It’s a safe bet that the Leafs want some style or attitude differences. If the intention was to just find another expensive playmaking winger who doesn’t engage physically, the Flames would have happily worked something out with Treliving to hand him back Jonathan Huberdeau.
Understandably the trade market, much like the free agent market hasn’t been promising this summer and if credit can be given where it’s due, it is encouraging that Brad Treliving hasn’t overcommitted to a less than ideal player simply because they are who was available. And while Brad Treliving has said that he wants to see what the Leafs presently have in training camp, the Leafs’ GM absolutely knows that upgrading is the right course of action and at best this is about establishing a sense of urgency and determining which depth is worth preserving for the Leafs.
Brad Treliving has always stated that building the team over the summer is the time to do it and not in the season but this seems to be an admission that is work was left incomplete and perhaps that will allow Leafs fans to dream a bit bigger about what their GM might accomplish. It’s also entirely possible this is the first tempering of expectations on a season that could see the Maple Leafs take a step back.
Reimer is a necessity when few options are available
There are a lot of differing opinions on Reimer just like pretty much any other topic related to the Leafs and I’ll say up front that in an ideal world I was never going to see James Reimer in a Maple Leafs jersey again. His average goaltending arrived in Toronto at the right time as Andrew Raycroft, Vesa Toskala, and Jonas Gustavsson set the bar exceeding low for him and his prolonged hot streak helped the Leafs get their first taste of bubble team glory. His “golly gee” schtick was more annoying to me than endearing, and I admit I was probably in the minority on that, but he has certainly provided reasons to others to not think much of him personally as well.
Still, he’s back, in pro tryout form, and it’s somewhat of a necessity to have him here. With Woll out indefinitely the Leafs need to look at goaltenders to use in the preseason and there aren’t a lot left. There are about to fewer as many will see their best paths to contracts not coming through NHL camps but joining AHL camps. In the Leafs situation there is likely a need to deploy whomever they can to the AHL camps as well and there probably isn’t much interest in splitting time between Stolarz and Hildeby in the remaining preseason games. Even if Akhtyamov is sticking around, there is potentially some benefit in a safety net in case of injuries.
Reimer is who is available. It is literally him or Samsonov and out of the two former Leafs goaltenders, Reimer was clearly the one more likely to accept an invitation back.
Given that Woll’s situation is (rightfully) private and the timeline for his return is unknown, speculating on whether Reimer will have a legitimate chance in the Leafs organization is a mystery. What does seem likely to get him to be in camp is that there has to be something in it for him. Maybe he’s wanting his career swan song to come with the team it started but far more likely the Leafs giving him a chance to show that he belongs in their organization or at least giving him an opportunity to play where other teams can see he can still tend goal will result in a chance for his career to continue.
With waivers soon to kick into gear and a number of teams potentially putting more intriguing third string options (some with high upside) into play, we’ll see if Reimer is long for the Leafs. Best case scenario is that this is a weekend thing.
Stretching before a marathon
I really want to do my best to not care about anything that happens in the preseason games and in all likelihood Craig Berube and Brad Treliving are going to be putting a lot more stock in what happens in their practice sessions than the outcomes of any of the preseason games anyway.
The games do serve a purpose and they can highlight players who just can’t keep up anymore, prospects who can’t matchup against even marginal NHL talent, and identify lines or systems that would certainly be exploited mercilessly and require teams to head back to the drawing board. If there is an absence of those situations it is far more likely that history, practice sessions, and asset management will take a much bigger role in the formation of the roster.
That’s where I try to remind myself that Easton Cowan looking good is exciting but he’s still very much against the reality of his situation. All things being equal, Easton Cowan would be on my Maple Leafs opening night lineup card, but a number of veterans like Jarnkrok, Robertson (if we can now call him a veteran) have also played well and have NHL history to fall back on. Max Domi’s career dictates he’s given a spot in the lineup as well, and when you throw in the assessment management aspect of sending the waivers exempt Cowan to the AHL, it’s unlikely that good practices and good preseason games get it done.
For all the camp battle talk, things tend to play out predictably. Maccelli was given the spot next to Matthews and given that he hasn’t done anything to dissuade Craig Berube from staying there, he’ll probably start the season there. The world hasn’t come to an end with Bobby McMann next to John Tavares and that’s good enough to keep him there for the season, and Robertson and Jarnkrok’s efforts likely just mean shorter leashes for the players already in the lineup but they are still on the outside.
Henry Thrun and Philippe Myers likely require someone starting on the injured reserve for both of them to make the team but Thrun as the interesting new option who has looked slightly better than Myers is likely retaining his spot in the depth chart as well.
Narratives about battles be damned. The NHL generally plays out predictably.
So what is actually going on and what is the preseason? It’s a stretch before a marathon season. Already if you look from Game One to Game Three of the preseason you can see that passes are being completed, fewer one timers missed, and defensive partners are starting to know where on the ice their partner is without having to look over frequently.
The guys who know they are on the team aren’t in any danger of giving 100% on the ice but they are getting comfortable with their timing, taking hits again, and building up their endurance again. As meaningless as the preseason results are there is some value in this occurring in game formats and not just practices. It’s just not overly exciting to watch and Scott Laughton’s four point night likely just means he’s ready for play in October.
Take the preseason hockey for what it is, a welcome alternative to a TSN or Sportsnet Top 50 plays countdown and a slight tease that something better is coming.