It was another night of evaluation as the Leafs iced another AHL roster against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night. One final chance for players to stand out and prove that they deserve a shot at a job with the big club. The result was a 4-3 shootout win for the Buds and nobody stood out more than Rasmus Sandin who recorded just under 31 minutes of ice time for the blue and white.
Not unsurprisingly, Saturday morning, 11 cuts were announced. Among them were Darren Archibald, Adam Brooks, Rich Clune, Hudson Elynuik, Pierre Engvall, Tyler Gaudet, Teemu Kivihalme and Pontus Aberg, none of whom were expected to make the team.
There were four players cut, however, who each had an opportunity to grab a spot and just came up short. Jeremy Bracco has been reassigned to the Toronto Marlies with most of the aforementioned, aside from Aberg and Gaudet who will need to clear waivers before being assigned to the Marlies. Ben Harpur and Jordan Schmaltz were among 2 defensemen rumored to be competing for a job on the blueline with the Leafs, but lacklustre preseason performances for both have led to each being placed on waivers on Saturday as well.
The Buds still have plenty of cuts to make in the coming days. Among the players who remain are forwards Ilya Mikheyev, Dmytro Timashov, Yegor Korshkov, Kenny Agostino, Mason Marchment, Nic Petan, Garrett Wilson, Kalle Kossila, Nick Shore and Matt Read (PTO), defensemen Martin Marincin, Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren, Justin Holl and Kevin Gravel and goaltender Joseph Woll.
That's a lot of competition for the 4 remaining spots available on the main roster. Those 4 spots are reduced to 2 when Travis Dermott and Zach Hyman return at the end of October.
Here's a prediction on what the roster could look like when all is said and done;
Forwards: Johnsson, Matthews, Nylander, Kapanen, Tavares, Marner, Mikheyev, Kerfoot, Moore, Gauthier, Spezza, Korshkov.
Petan, Agostino (extras)
Defense: Rielly, Ceci, Muzzin, Barrie, Sandin, Marincin.
Holl (extra)
Goalies: Andersen, Hutchinson
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