The Maple Leafs continue their push through the pre-season with more practice today, and planning for their next game tomorrow in Toronto against the Montreal Canadiens. The question is, will they all still be here for that game?
The timing of the first roster cuts is completely up to the team, and they have multiple options for that process: it can be a slow and steady dribble with two or three per day, or they can wait several more days and make one big giant cut to get the roster down close to the final number that will start the season on October 12.
To summarise, they have options, and I won’t predict what they will do, but what may influence their process is that Wednesday’s pre-season game is here in Toronto, while the following two are on the road, first in Ottawa, then Montreal, so I expect they will hold out on the first cuts until Thursday morning, giving the players on the bubble one more chance to play and impress before swinging the axe. But that’s only my best guess. If they do make the first cuts today, we should hear about them sometime around noon.
Here’s the media event post-practice yesterday, which was apparently filmed in a room filled with smoke, or the lights turned off, or something like that.
Oh, and, still no news on Rasmus Sandin; another reason the cuts on the defence side may be delayed as they do have to contemplate the possibility of starting the season without him on the team.
Other News
Sheldon Keefe on prospect Fraser Minten: "He has a maturity to his game that you don't often find fresh out of the draft"
[TRANSCRIPT:] After practice on Monday, Sheldon Keefe discussed the status of his injured players (Jake Muzzin, Pierre Engvall, Adam Gaudette), the development of prospects Fraser Minten and Ty Voit, Jordie Benn and Victor Mete’s ability to play the right side, and Denis Malgin’s opportunity next to John Tavares and William Nylander.
Tampa Bay Lightning postpone preseason games due to Hurricane Ian - Raw Charge
The Wednesday and Thursday games at Amalie Arena will be made up at a later date.
Claudia Roden’s recipe for potatoes with chorizo - The Guardian
This comforting dish is the taste of Spain’s Rioja region in a pan.
[SPECIES: Potatoes and spicy sausage means you can't go wrong, but I would include all the optional items listed too. Peppers and tomatoes are so cheap at this time of year and go so well in a long cooked dish like this. You could also double the potatoes to two pounds and it would still work holding all else the same and be more of a side dish, perfect for Thanksgiving.]
