Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montréal Canadiens

07:00 PM at Centre Bell

Watch on: RDS, TSN2, TSN4

Opponent’s Site: Eyes On The Prize

Montréal again, this time at their house. The Leafs are sending a team full of regulars, and the Canadiens are countering with something similar.

Them

This game is your reminder that Sean Monahan in on the Canadiens now.

Lines

Us

The Leafs split their team up into an NHL group and a prospects group yesterday. Today they cut several players to the Marlies camp about to open. The roster they’ve sent today is a mix of the two, but it leans heavy on the NHLer side:

Lines

Barring any last minute changes, this should be the team that plays:

Absent are the still a little banged up Pierre Engvall and Jake Muzzin as well as Calle Järnkrok, who was ill for a day. David Kämpf remains with the other group as well. Matt Murray is expected to play the full game, per reports, making this the most serious preseason use of goaltenders we’ve seen in some time.

The Game

What’s at stake here is priority list for the cuts that matter in a few days. Adam Gaudette, just back from injury has moved back down the lineup and he’s got to compete with his linemates for attention. Pontus Holmberg, between the power of Zach Aston-Resse and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, gets to play to his own strengths — puck possession and offensive zone control. They aren’t the same as a shutdown line centred by Kämpf, but the point is to see them all against NHL players.

From 32 Thoughts today, it seems like the Leafs are not going to just add a depth defender without it being part of a trade for an excess forward. In the meantime they like Filip Král and Victor Mete. Král has been frun to watch, but this is a level of competition he hasn’t really seen before.

This is also Nick Robertson’s chance to show off on the second line again and really make an impression. Sheldon Keefe was positive about Robertson’s play, and I thought his last preseason game vs the Ottawa (mostly) Senators was his best full game ever played for the Leafs. This one is going to be tougher.

Go Leafs Go!

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