The Toronto Maple Leafs are less than a week away from the start of the regular season, which likely means that the line combinations and units on special teams working together at training camp will be utilized in the opener against the Montreal Canadiens next Wednesday and early in the schedule.
The only change made to the regular lineup at camp on Friday was Pierre Engvall skating with Ilya Mikheyev and Zach Hyman in place of injured center Alex Kerfoot, but head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that Kerfoot did skate this morning and is making progress from an undisclosed injury.
Prior to the Blue vs. White scrimmage at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night, the Leafs began to work on their power play and short-handed units. On the penalty kill, there will not be much change with Mitch Marner, Zach Hyman, Mikheyev and Kerfoot were all utilized last season, but Keefe indicated that veteran Jason Spezza and Auston Matthews will see time on the PK.
“We want to get those two guys comfortable and at least knowing the look and the feel of the penalty kill,” Keefe said on Thursday. “In Auston’s case, it’s something he hasn’t done. We don’t expect it to be a full-time role, but a part-time basis as needed. On faceoffs in particular, (Matthews) can bring a lot to us on the left side. We’ve seen so much in his growth as a defensive player in addition to being an offensive threat.”
The Toronto philosophy of a loaded top power play unit from last season appears to have changed, as team captain John Tavares and William Nylander were shifted to the second unit. The #1 unit in drills was comprised of Matthews, Mitch Marner, veterans Joe Thornton and Wayne Simmonds, with Morgan Rielly at the point, with the other unit being Tavares, Nylander, Hyman, Spezza and rookie Mikko Lehtonen.
“We feel with the addition of Thornton and Simmonds in particular, that gives us two guys that have lots to offer on the power play. Enough so, that we can create two units and separate the four forwards that we utilized on our #1 unit last year.” Keefe said. “We like what it does, in terms of the competitiveness of the two units with each other (and) the fact that we can remain more fresh and have more urgency in the things that we can do.”
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The Toronto Maple Leafs revealed their broadcast schedule for the 2020-21 regular season on Friday. All 56 games will be televised on Sportsnet (38 games) and TSN (18 games), with Sportsnet 590 The FAN and TSN Radio 1050 each broadcasting 28 games with the longtime play-by-play commentator Joe Bowen and radio analyst Jim Ralph at the mic.
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