EARLY THOUGHTS - TOR PRESEASON

Nick De Cicco

The NHL’s preseason schedule is in full effect and life for hockey fanatics have returned to a sense of normalcy. Leafs fans are excited to see their team with multiple new faces for the first time since the devastating first round exit against the Lightning. We are going to break down the first two games of this preseason for the Buds.

The boys in blue started their exhibition games with a doubleheader split-squad series with the battle of Ontario against the Ottawa Senators.

It’s hard to tell from little sample sizes, but this Sens team has significant improvement on the main roster. The goaltending could still use some work, but the offensive and defensive core has stepped it up. From the veteran presence of Claude Gireoux to raising stars like Jake Sanderson, it’s fun to watch.

The Leafs also look good with their stars at the forefront of the action. The returning “Core Four” of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, and Tavares looked like they were in mid-season form during their respective games.

The early afternoon game that started at 1:00pm was a great show for the fans and displayed an even balance of returning roster players and highly projected prospects that hope to impress coaches and management enough to earn a roster spot in the future. In the afternoon game, the newly-acquired Adam Gaudette lined up with Leafs veterans John Tavares and Mitch Marner. Adam’s performance was quite impressive in this game because of strong puck handling abilities that fits perfectly within the projected bottom six. Additionally, Gaudette had exceptional backchecking and physicality that checks the boxes in multiple areas of the ice.

Nylander played alongside Holmberg and Dennis Malgin on the second line. The trio played with exceptional chemistry throughout the game that was initiated by Willy’s quick puck handling and skating abilities. Malgin is pretty much a shoe-in for the season opening lineup and clearly deserves better in his next stint with the team. Dennis’ significant changes are as a result of his performance in the European leagues. I particularly enjoyed Malgin’s work on the powerplay unit as the QB. Dennis’ work in that position will be beneficial to the Leafs PP struggles in recent years. Nylander looks poised for another great season with the Leafs and is already in mid-season shape on the skates. Holmberg rounds out the line with a moderate pace and performance on that line.

On the third line, we saw the amazement from Zach Aston-Reese, and David Kampf. The former Pittsburgh Penguins star showed off his excellent physicality and ability to finish checks in the corner. His grit plays a huge role in a difficult to play against mindset that the Leafs have been trying to accomplish for years. Zach’s net-front presence throughout the game was fantastic and he played a critical part in the second goal of the preseason. This PTO will definitely pay off for the Maple Leafs.

Kampf’s average season last year was similar to the start that Kerfoot had in his first complete year in Toronto. Transferring to a massive hockey market is difficult on some players and it takes some time to adjust. Kampf’s performance in this matchup gets him on a better path for the start of the regular season.

The fourth line consisted of the likes of Alex Steeves and Fraser Minton. Both young and up-and-coming prospects were impressive in unique elements of the game. In particular, Alex Steeves played the blue line role of the power play and excelled in that position. A forward in the defensive-oriented spot is beneficial for a power play that will be hard to defend. For Minton, he played well in the corners and positioned himself in spots that boosted his game.

The most disappointing part of this first game was some poor defensive positioning and giveaways in the D-zone that could have been avoided.That can chalked up to being rusty and lacking game experience for the youngsters. With that, I was surprised how effective the defense was in breakouts and offensive rushes.

Between the pipes, Kallgren played a decent game with the very limited action he faced through the first two periods. Ferguson played an excellent game for a young goalie and was the calmest and most dialed in. This goalie has become quite the depth piece for goaltenders in this organization.

In the second game of the doubleheader, we saw a plethora of talent in action with a different final result.

Matthews, Bunting and Jarkrok started up this second matchup with excellent performances that excited the fans deep into the night. Matthews and Bunting looked great with a pep in their step. With Matthews’ presence, the power play’s productivity was more explosive. The trio played throughout the game with great chemistry. Specifically, Jarkrok added depth with the top 6 that provides an additional shooting option for both top lines. Calle’s phenomenal offensive and defensive positioning created some passing lanes and more assurance for the defensemen.

Two other forwards that impressed me during this second game were Nicholas Aube-Kubel and Bobby McMann. Nicholas played with great physicality, similar to the performance of Zach Aston-Resse. Bobby reminds me of Micheal Bunting, who was a late bloomer in his NHL career. Bunting’s success last season could easily pave the way for McMann’s success in the AHL with the Marlies and eventually with the Maple Leafs. The late bloomer has strong offensive abilities to create opportunities for himself with his speed and shooting.

Defensively, Victor Mete and Villeneuve played well with offensive and defensive abilities in a strong shot from the point and fantastic backchecking against speedy opposition. Mete and Villeneuve will be depth pieces that might come in handy with injuries to Muzzin, Liljegren and contract uncertainties with Sandin.

In goaltending terms, Samsonov played well with glimpses of greatness that presented aggression and stability between the pipes. He faced a decent amount of quality shots for management to contemplate over. My only concern is Ilya’s emotional personality that tends to fail for goaltenders in the NHL. His emotional state reminds me of Jack Campbell that would easily get rocked by a squeaky goal allowed. Samsonov needs to keep his emotions in check and let the small stuff slide for him to keep riding the momentum he's been on.

The most surprising part of that second game was the experiments the coaches went through putting Matthews on the PK. This might have been purely a one time thing in an exhibition game or slowly starting to give Auston more ice time in a more defensive-oriented role. Playing on the PK might do wonders for Matthews’ defensive development and benefit the entire unit with an opposition that might be too scared to pass in Matthews’ direction, limiting the passing options for the opposing powerplay. Regardless, it was fun to imagine and ponder the possibilities of what might have been.

Looking at all these incredibly talented prospects, they might crack the opening night roster with the absence of John Tavares, who suffered an oblique injury and will miss the opening week of the regular season. Guys like Steeves or McMann might slide into a spot with their respective performances in the preseason thus far.

Overall, the squads played decent games with the combination of players they had on the ice. This second game was much more tight-checking and defensively-oriented for both teams with little room to give for either side. The penalty kill looked great with disruptions that created an uneventful power play for the Sens. Despite splitting the series with the Senators, both teams exhibited great performances with the limited practice they’ve had together.

It’s truly amazing to see the potential franchise players with the generations of talent on the ice in front of the cheering fans. The preseason is extremely important for many aspects of a hockey organization, but when the regular season starts there’s a sense of unimaginable passion that courses through our veins. This anticipation that no one can explain and all sports fans can relate to.

The 2022-23 regular season is just 2 weeks away and the countdown continues to the flip of the NHL calendar and the opening faceoff takes us to the moment we’ve been craving for three whole months!