The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced their roster for tonight's preseason bout against the Montreal Canadiens. Among the names absent from this list are defensemen Martin Marincin and Rasmus Sandin.
Why is this relevant? Because the roster that will be suiting up in tonight's tilt against the Habs are primarily bubble players, hoping to make the team. Of course, this doesn't necessarily guarantee that both Marincin and Sandin will make the team, but at this point, it seems like the bottom pairing spots are theirs to lose.
Of the players up front who are vying for spots, the notable absences in tonight's lineup are Ilya Mikheyev and Freddie Gauthier. If the Maple Leafs are narrowing the field and using tonight's game as a "show me what you've got" trial, then it would be a pretty good indicator that both Mikheyev and Gauthier are already slotted in to make the team.
Mikheyev will likely suit up on the third line beside Alex Kerfoot, while Gauthier looks to be the front-runner for the 4th line C job, which was all but guaranteed to veteran Jason Spezza before camp began. Gauthier's strong performance in the preseason may have actually pushed Spezza over to the 4th line RW spot. This is not really a bad problem to have, as Spezza shoots right and Gauthier shoots left and both are fantastic in the faceoff dot. Why is this important? Because the Leafs will always have a man on the ice on the 4th line to take the draw on his strong side.
-
If tonight's roster is any indicator of what the opening night roster could look like, we may see it shape up like this:
Kapanen, Tavares, Marner, Johnsson, Matthews, Nylander, Mikheyev, Kerfoot, Timashov, Moore, Gauthier, Spezza
Rielly, Ceci, Muzzin, Barrie, Sandin and Marincin, with Kivihalme as a possible extra
Andersen and Neuvirth, with Hutchinson as a possible extra
