While a lot of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bubble players were in Ottawa for a preseason matchup against the Senators, a majority of Toronto’s main players practiced at Ford Performance Centre on Sunday.
The Maple Leafs’ non-playing group began practice with line work. Despite Max Domi participating in the skate (he’s missed all of training camp thus far with a lower-body injury), Matias Maccelli remained with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies.
“I mean, obviously, now it's been a few days, so it's getting better,” Maccelli said of the chemistry between him, Matthews, and Knies. “Trying to find him a little more out there, and I kind of know now where they hang out when we have the puck. So, yeah, it's getting better.”
Domi skated alongside Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy, who’s back on the ice after missing Saturday’s practice with a lower body issue. Bobby McMann skated with John Tavares and William Nylander, while the pair of Steven Lorentz and Scott Laughton had Alex Nylander, Logan Shaw, and Borya Valis rotating through the lines.
Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo — plus Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev — made up Toronto’s top four on the back-end. With Simon Benoit still out with an upper-body injury, Matt Benning skated alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the third pairing.
Joseph Woll wasn’t on the ice for the second straight day. He missed Saturday’s session due to illness.
Maple Leafs work on special teams
After moving from the Toronto Marlies’ rink to the Maple Leafs’ pad, assistant coach Marc Savard led the team in power play work. It was the first time we saw Morgan Rielly back as the quarterback with Matthews, Knies, Nylander, and Tavares.
Rielly took several shots from the point during the skate. And that’s going to be a focus going forward with the defenseman returning to Toronto’s top unit.
“He's comfortable back there. I think it's not overcomplicating things. He's got to shoot the puck. We've all got to take care of the puck and shoot it when the opportunities arise.” Matthews said on Sunday morning.
“Obviously, we've got Kniesy, who's a big body at the front of the net, JT, who's great in the middle, and myself and Williy can shoot off the flanks and stuff. But I think early on, it's not overcomplicating things, keeping things simple, and just trying to break down their structure from the inside.”
Toronto’s second unit was made up of McMann, Domi, Maccelli, Roy, and Ekman-Larsson. Domi and Roy departed practice shortly after the team began penalty kill work. New assistant coach Derek Lalonde was running that part of the session.
The forward pairs were as follows: Knies and Matthews; Laughton and Lorentz; McMann and Nylander; Tavares and Roy. Defensively, Toronto had McCabe and Tanev, plus Ekman-Larsson and Carlo as a pair.
“Yeah, (Lalonde’s) been good. I mean, even in the summertime, I think he was chatting with quite a few guys early on, just getting a feel for stuff, getting an idea of where he wants the penalty kill to go,” added Matthews.
“I think he's done a really good job of communicating. And obviously, on a day like today, where Chief is with the other group in Ottawa, having these guys out here running a good practice for us and making sure everything's detailed is really good.”
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Laughton refreshed and comfortable after offseason at home
The 31-year-old is enjoying life at home at this time of the year. In the past, Laughton has been at Philadelphia Flyers training camp, preparing for the upcoming season. But after a difficult end to the season, team-wise and individually, Laughton is ready for his first full year with the Maple Leafs.
“I haven't been home like this at this time of year, so it's cool. I think having my family here is definitely a help with a young kid and everything like that, a little built-in babysitting,” Laughton smiled.
“But it's been nice for my wife and I, just to kind of settle down here and take some time to ourselves after a busy year and a lot going on throughout the year. So to get away from it a little bit and to get some peace and quiet, and, yeah, just ready to get going.”
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<a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/they-look-like-they-re-24-maple-leafs-prospects-inspired-watching-veterans-like-tavares-tanev-and-laughton-train-at-development-camp">Scott Laughton</a> has thoroughly enjoyed his first summer at home as a Toronto Maple Leaf.
Even Matthews has taken notice of how comfortable Laughton’s gotten after a summer at home in Toronto.
“Laughty's been great. I think just to come in and have a summer here at the facility, A lot of us knew him kind of before him getting traded here, but he comes in, he's very comfortable around the guys, he's funny, he brings a lot of energy into the locker room, just a fun guy to be around,” the Maple Leafs’ captain said.
“And like I said, having a good summer, stepping in, full training camp, all that stuff, makes it a little bit easier.”
Being more comfortable in the dressing room, Laughton has even thrown his hat into the ring to become the team’s locker room DJ with Mitch Marner gone.
“There's a couple of guys who play the music here, so I'm going to put my bid in,” he smiled, before mentioning Nylander and Rielly also getting time with their music.
“Mo's been playing the music lately before practice,” Laughton added. “I won't say what we've been listening to lately, but it's a banger.”
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