Hildeby was called up on Monday morning and skated with the Maple Leafs ahead of their California road trip.
Hildeby was called up on Monday morning and skated with the Maple Leafs ahead of their California road trip.
Although Toronto has called up Dennis Hildeby, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe is still unsure of whether the 22-year-old will play.
Toronto leaves for their three-game California road trip on Monday, playing games on back-to-back nights, beginning on Tuesday in Los Angeles and then Wednesday in Anaheim. Usually, when that occurs, a team will go with a different goalie on the second night.
Keefe says given the simplicity of this back-to-back, they haven't ruled out using Martin Jones on both nights.
"As we look at our week, and particular, the back-to-back that's coming, we haven't ruled out utilizing (Martin) Jones in both those games," Keefe admitted after Monday's practice.
"As far as back-to-backs go, it's probably the easiest one you're going to get on the road in terms of no flight or anything like that. Instead of bussing to the airport, we'll be bussing to change hotels. So we'll take it a day at a time in terms of that."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-9bGOFXHc[/embed]
The chance that Hildeby plays remains possible, though. Keefe said that the 22-year-old needs to be ready, in case he is called upon.
"My message to him was just: he's here, he's the second guy right now — like you would have the message for any guy that's the second guy is — your job is to be ready for any opportunity that might come up or any time we may need you."
Before anything else, the Maple Leafs want Hildeby to be comfortable. The 22-year-old had seven wins through his first 15 AHL games this season, all while posting a .919 save percentage, one of the best in the American Hockey League.
However, the NHL is a different beast. The play is faster, and the shots are harder. Hildeby needs to get acclimated to that climate quickly so he's ready for his NHL debut if it happens later this week.
"NHL shooters and such, it's a different animal, as he may have learned when Auston (Matthews) came down and blew one by him there in one of the first drills," Keefe said.
Keefe explained that the 6-foot-7 netminder looked more comfortable throughout practice. That's all you can ask for from Hildeby in his first full skate with the NHL club.
"I think you want him to get comfortable, which I saw the more and more the skate went on, you could really see that he was getting comfortable in his reads and obviously with his size, a lot of pucks just hit him because of the size, but the plan is just to get him comfortable here."
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