Leafs development camp day one: haircuts and height jokes

The most important part of day one of the Toronto Maple Leafs development camp was this crucial piece of news: Timothy Liljegren cut his hair.

Maple Leafs' first-rounder Timothy Liljegren chopped his unruly mullet Tuesday to prep for development camp: “New haircut. Feels good.” pic.twitter.com/TsHcyRekYk

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) July 7, 2017

Please feel free to be outraged over the draconian hair policy on the Leafs.  I think he looks good.  But calling his old look either unruly or a mullet seems untrue.

I do actually love that Liljegren will get this fairly gentle introduction into what it’s like being a member of the Leafs where your every move is tracked, and people will want to know what you’re wearing, how your hair looks, and if you like ketchup on your hot dogs.

The real news from today’s camp was that two invitees couldn’t make it:

Nikita Korostelev and Vladislav Yeryomenko were on initial camp roster but did not make it in time due to travel issues and will not attend.

— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) July 7, 2017

Korostelev was listed on the Anaheim Ducks development camp roster last weekend.

The splitting of the teams into two groups had a purpose:

Scott Pellerin says splitting Leaf camp into draft picks/prospects and free agents more fair to the latter trying to make Marlies and ECHL.

— Lance Hornby (@sunhornby) July 7, 2017

And there was some skating with Barb Underhill today to keep the new Leafs draft picks on their toes.

6'7" Maple Leafs draft pick Eemeli Räsänen on ice for development camp. Just a wee bit taller than Barb Underhill. pic.twitter.com/iwgwruDAT1

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) July 7, 2017

Eemeli Rasanen, #Leafs 2nd round 2017 pick, doing some backwards skating. He's a 6'7, 208 lbs defenseman. Huge guy with offensive ability. pic.twitter.com/dj7KfWSZIh

— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) July 7, 2017

(208 lb on a guy that tall is not huge.)  But he can definitely skate backwards.

Skating coach Barb Underhill works with the Leaf d-corps prospects in Toronto today. A tall order for Barb. #tmltalk pic.twitter.com/oFL2CYyQBF

— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) July 7, 2017