With training camp now underway, the race is on to fill out the depth spots on the Leafs’ roster. There are a lot of players competing for very few roles with an emphasis being placed on the young guys to get a fair shot to overtake some of the veteran presence on the team. In the first split-squad game of the day on Saturday, the Leafs had several of the players vying for a bottom-six role playing up and down the lineup.
As a result, the sense of urgency was apparent all game. Toronto dominated play almost right from the opening faceoff, finishing the game having controlled 62 per cent of the shot attempts, 72.