Toronto Maple Leafs announce Return to Play roster

UPDATE: There has been a correction:

And another small update:

As the NHL prepares to begin Phase 3 of their Return to Play Protocol, also known as pre-playoffs training camp, teams are announcing their rosters that will begin training camp.

Here is the Leafs roster, a total of 18 forwards, 12 defensemen, and four goalies.

The Roster

Teams are allowed 30 skaters and unlimited goalies in training camp, but they must cut two skaters (down to 28) before entering the bubble. The Leafs have 30 skaters at the moment, so two will be off the list by August 1st when Phase 4 begins in Toronto.

Here is the Leafs training camp roster by position:

Centre

Auston Matthews, Adam Brooks, Alexander Kerfoot, Tyler Gaudet, Denis Malgin, Jason Spezza, Frederik Gauthier, John Tavares

Left Wing

Kenny Agostino, Zach Hyman, Ilya Mikheyev, Kyle Clifford, Pierre Engvall, Nicholas Robertson

Right Wing

Kasperi Kapanen, William Nylander, Egor Korshkov, Mitch Marner

Left Defense

Travis Dermott, Teemu Kivihalme, Martin Marincin, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, Calle Rosen, Rasmus Sandin

Right Defense

Tyson Barrie, Cody Ceci, Justin Holl, Mac Hollowell, Timothy Liljegren

Goalies

Frederik Andersen, Jack Campbell, Kasimir Kaskisuo, Joseph Woll

Rookies

• NHL Rookies with no NHL games experience include Robertson, Kivihalme, Hollowell, and Woll
• Gaudet and Agostino are experienced NHL players who spent the year on the Toronto Marlies

Injuries

• Andreas Johnsson is not on the RTP Roster as of right now as he recovers from knee surgery. He can be added at any time before Phase 4 begins.
• Ian Scott is also not on the roster, he is presumably still recovering from hip surgery that kept him out for the entire 2019-20 season.

Missing

The following players have an NHL contract with the Leafs for 2019-20, making them eligible for the RTP, but did not make the roster:

• Max Veronneau, Jeremy Bracco, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Nic Petan, Miikka Salomaki, Garrett Wilson, Kalle Kossila, Pontus Aberg, Matt Lorito, Joseph Duszak, Jesper Lindgren, Kevin Gravel, and Scott.

I’m surprised Petan and Aberg didn’t make the team, considering both played NHL games for the Leafs this season. Everyone else was a Marlie for the whole season or acquired at the deadline for the Marlies.

UPDATE:

Petan has replaced Hollowell on the roster (Kyle reads our polls). Petan missed 11 Marlies games from February 9th to March 6th due to an injury, but came back for the final three games of the shortened regular season. It’s being reported that Petan was still healing from his injury during the lockdown until just recently when he was cleared by team doctors. That now makes 19 forwards, 11 defensemen, and four goalies at training camp.

In terms of the staff, the Leafs will be bringing Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan on the management side, and Sheldon Keefe, Paul McFarland, Dave Hakstol, Andrew Brewer, Steve Briere, and Jordan Bean.

And Auston Matthews is reportedly healthy and ready for training camp. Andreas Johnsson is expected to enter the bubble but not be at training camp. That means the Leafs will make three cuts from their 30 skaters from Phase 3 in order to finalize their roster for Phase 4.

What do you think of the roster? Who didn’t make it that surprised you? Who do you think is going to get cut in two weeks? Lineup predictions?

Here was my guess a little over a month and a half ago: