Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving appeared in OverDrive on Friday and discussed the biggest stories from Toronto's training camp camp.
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving appeared in OverDrive on Friday and discussed the biggest stories from Toronto's training camp camp.
Nick Robertson has broken down the door to making the Toronto Maple Leafs out of training camp.
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving appeared on TSN 1050's OverDrive on Friday afternoon and was asked about several topics, including Robertson, whose training camp with Toronto has been outstanding.
The 23-year-old has five goals in four pre-season games, all while also putting in the work defensively to help create those scoring opportunities. Those two areas alone have likely helped him secure a roster spot with Toronto.
"Well, he shot the puck in the net five times, so even I can figure that one out. You probably need to find a spot there," Treliving said on OverDrive.
"To me, as much as it's great the puck's going in the net, his camp can be highlighted by the two plays he made before both goals last night, and that's great defensive plays. Chief's (Craig Berube) got him killing penalties and he's getting in on the forecheck. So, he's rounding out the other parts of his game that you need to do, every player needs to do.
"But he's doing that and he's shooting in the net, so he's a great camp. Very proud of him and, like to me, he's muscled his way right into a position here. So we'll get through tomorrow and see where everything ends up for Wednesday."
Robertson missed Friday's practice after picking up an upper-body injury during Thursday's game in Detroit.
One of the main stories of Maple Leafs training camp is the team's attempt to move William Nylander to center. Former Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe attempted it, however, the move didn't make it to the regular season.
Friday was the second day in a row where Nylander was back on the wing after playing just one game down the middle during the pre-season. It was a signal that maybe the experiment wasn't working.
"This isn't about abandoning it. I think you're going to see a hybrid. I think he [Nylander] spent the first week or so — eight days of camp — at center ice. Craig [Berube] wanted to get him some reps on the wing, so I think there's going to be some flex there," Treliving said.
"If you look at Craig's team in St. Louis when they were going through the good runs they had, Brayden Schenn would play on the wing, he'd play down the middle of the ice. (Ryan) O'Reilly would sometimes be on the wing, middle of the ice. ... I think the long way of saying it is you're going to see a little bit of both."
When training camp opened up in mid-September, several players were on the mend from injuries. Jani Hakanpaa was recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and Connor Dewar was returning after shoulder surgery in the offseason.
Both players have since joined Toronto's main group in practice, however, we might not see Dewar in game action for a couple more weeks.
"Connor Dewar, right now, he had shoulder surgery. [The recovery] is a six-month deal, so he's going to have a few more weeks at least yet," Treliving said on OverDrive.
The Maple Leafs have one more preseason game — at home vs. the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday — before the regular season begins on Oct. 9 in Montreal against the Montreal Canadiens.
We'll likely see a regular season-like lineup inside Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night against the Red Wings.
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