After a successful western swing where the Leafs played 10 games in just 18 days, the team had some time on Sunday to rest and reset with a day off, followed by an optional skate on Monday. The team returned to full training on Tuesday and showed some new line-up combinations with the third center line Alexander Kerfoot lack of training after skating with injured Joe Thornton before the main group takes the ice.
Keefe says Kerfoot is day after day. # Leaves
– Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) February 2, 2021
In Kerfoot’s place Pierre Engvall centered a third line that was introduced Ilya Mikheyev and Jimmy Vesey on the wings. Kerfoot’s status for Thursday’s competition against Vancouver is tentative and the Leafs will have to be more conservative with the third row if he can’t play.
With Vesey from the top six, Wayne Simmonds seems to be getting a chance John Tavares and @William Nylander in Toronto’s second line to a road trip where he really seemed to find his game.
Sheldon Keefe on Wayne Simmonds: “He was a real highlight for us on the road trip. He got a little more out of every game and with Jumbo’s injury we can move things a little and give him.” more opportunity and he has a lot of jump. “
– Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) February 2, 2021
The first line of Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner remained intact, but there was another notable change in the forwards group in training on Tuesday than Nic Petan was added to the Leafs roster and ran on the left side of a fourth line that is centered through Travis Boyd With Jason Spezza On the right side. Petan appeared to be on the outside this season as the Leafs rallied options for the deep forward, but injuries up front and an inconsistent fourth row play have given him another opportunity to distinguish himself in the NHL.
When Nic Petan joined the training team, Keefe said after speaking to Kyle Dubas that Petan “belongs to that group”. Adds that it will be in the mix for a fourth row point moving forward.
– Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) February 2, 2021
On the blue line, the Leafs have returned Travis Dermott on the third pair with Zach Bogosian as Mikko Lehtonen was skating again Rasmus Sandin as an additional defender. Lehtonen has not yet won Keefe’s trust as he has struggled to adjust to the pace of the NHL game and he needs to keep improving in practice as he awaits another opportunity to show he’s a regular belongs in the list.
Keefe said again that he doesn’t think Mikko Lehtonen is comfortable when he’s not in the power play. The hope is that they now have enough videos of him in NHL games to help him learn and progress
– Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) January 31, 2021
The coaching team is significantly more comfortable at this point when it comes to throwing Dermott outside for a regular shift, and Keefe went out of their way to point out that the 24-year-old didn’t do anything to deserve a healthy scratch, but the organization is committed to getting a real look at Lehtonen too, and rightly so.
Sheldon Keefe on Travis Dermott: “He’s a guy who doesn’t deserve to sit outside. But the only way to get people in is by taking people out. We’re actually very encouraged by Dermott’s game. He really did everything , what we do.” asked of him. Lots of positive things about his game “
– Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) January 31, 2021
It might look different in practice tomorrow, but right now it seems this could be the line-up the Leafs will go with when they resume their schedule at home against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
