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# Friday FTB: We're Back!
- URL: https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/friday-ftb-leafs-training-camp-were-back/
- Published: 2023-09-22T10:30:37.000Z
- Updated: 2023-09-22T10:30:36.000Z
- Description: Summer is nearly over, but don’t fear — Leafs hockey is almost back! Yesterday was the first day of training camp, and though it was relatively uneventful, we did get some pictures and video of the new guys in Leafs’ gear.
- Author: Catch-67
- Tags: From The Branches

Good morning!

Summer is nearly over, but don’t fear — Leafs hockey is *almost* back! 

> We’re back!! [pic.twitter.com/7zPqydijfu](https://t.co/7zPqydijfu?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1704868065257673213?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Yesterday was the first day of training camp, and preseason starts this weekend with a game against Ottawa on Sunday. The first day of training camp is never that eventful, but we did get some pictures and video of the new guys in Leafs’ gear.

> First look at Ryan Reaves with the Toronto Maple Leafs. [pic.twitter.com/Xiw7ziQhv1](https://t.co/Xiw7ziQhv1?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/SEllisHockey/status/1704898041327542476?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

> First look of Max Domi with the Toronto Maple Leafs. [pic.twitter.com/qEYbqJjzph](https://t.co/qEYbqJjzph?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/SEllisHockey/status/1704897469283221777?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

> First look at Tyler Bertuzzi in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. [pic.twitter.com/VIZtxrQYNr](https://t.co/VIZtxrQYNr?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/SEllisHockey/status/1704883460131688762?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

> Domi & Reaves battling and smiling [pic.twitter.com/5er58pqVvY](https://t.co/5er58pqVvY?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Mark Masters (@markhmasters) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1704918024816329176?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Speaking of new guys, did anyone else forget that Guy Boucher is the new PP coach?

> After main practice wraps …   
>  
> New assistant coach Guy Boucher, who will oversee PP, feeding Auston Matthews   
>  
> New d-man John Klingberg setting up Mitch Marner [pic.twitter.com/hEAL4jcGPo](https://t.co/hEAL4jcGPo?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Mark Masters (@markhmasters) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1704885000913481878?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

One newbie who wasn’t part of training camp was recent addition Simon Benoit, who was out with a day-to-day back injury. 

> D Simon Benoit will not practice today. He is day-to-day with back spasms.  
>  
> D Nolan Dillingham will skate with Group 2 today.
> 
> — Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/LeafsPR/status/1704858554480447527?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Keefe also made sure to get the hype train started from day one by singling out all of the young forwards as standouts. 

> Keefe singled out several of the younger [#Leafs](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Leafs?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com) \- Knies, Robertson, Minten, Cowan - for their work today. "They had a lot of good stuff going on."
> 
> — Terry Koshan 🇺🇦 (@koshtorontosun) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/koshtorontosun/status/1704944140834721861?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

As much as my confidence is quite shaky in Robertson really panning out, I am really excited to watch him play this year—hopefully without any more injuries. 

[Maple Leafs’ Robertson confident, determined to move past lengthy injury historyThe 22-year-old winger is battling for a job at Maple Leafs training camp after undergoing shoulder surgery in January.![](https://dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital/14.4.3/websites/images/apple-touch-icons/iphone-retina/icon-tsun.png)Toronto SunTerry Koshan![](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/torontosun/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/nick-scaled-e1695330403383.jpg)](https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/maple-leafs-robertson-confident-determined-to-move-past-lengthy-injury-history?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Another fun thing that was revealed yesterday is that Samsonov’s new mask wasn’t entirely inspired by CuJo. Instead, he was thinking of Toskala.

[https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/maple-leafs-goaltender-ilya-samsonov-reveals-story-behind-brand-new-mask](https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/maple-leafs-goaltender-ilya-samsonov-reveals-story-behind-brand-new-mask?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Let’s hope he was just looking at Toskala’s mask for inspiration!

There’s been a bit of a media buzz in the past few days on Nylander starting camp as a centre, which has at least slowed the incessant drama cycle on his extension talks that bubbled up in the more boring parts of August. That said, Willy made sure to shut down the remnants of that talk today:

> William Nylander: "I want to be here ... but I’m going to let my agent & Brad take care of that. I’m not going to answer any more questions about my contract"  
>  
> "I still have one more year left so that’s just how I’m thinking about it"[https://t.co/WtptOOfIlS](https://t.co/WtptOOfIlS?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Mark Masters (@markhmasters) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1704971105981669482?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

I’m sure nobody will bring it up from now on! 

> i truly don't understand how people don't love this guy. the ideal Toronto player. talented and also immune to thoughts [https://t.co/JTt5ddxDU8](https://t.co/JTt5ddxDU8?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Acting the Fulemin (@ATFulemin) [September 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/ATFulemin/status/1704944828784492624?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

We really don’t deserve him.

In other hockey news, there’s been some discourse lately on getting the refs to speak after games. It’s an idea that has a lot of support among fans, and sounds great on paper—I would love to know what the refs are thinking on some of those calls. The NHL, as is expected, said no. That said, I think the arguments about ref anonymity in the following article make sense. Either way, the current model where fans just get really angry on a weekly basis and the NHL shrugs (or gives an offending player a post-hoc fine) doesn’t really work.

[NHL Says No to Post-Game Ref InterviewsNHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly shot down the idea of subjecting NHL referees to post-game interviews, despite fan and player interest![](https://i0.wp.com/scoutingtherefs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cropped-2018_SQUARE-Whistle.jpg?fit=192%2C192&ssl=1)Scouting The Refs![](https://i0.wp.com/scoutingtherefs.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-09-21-Ref-ROom-Door.jpg?fit=1308%2C770&ssl=1)](https://scoutingtherefs.com/2023/09/40737/nhl-says-no-to-post-game-ref-interviews/?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Earlier this summer, Ottawa’s search for a new owner seemed to be everywhere in hockey news. I’m not sure if it was me or the latter part of the sale just wasn't reported on as much, but anyway I don’t remember hearing about the new owner being chosen. Regardless, yesterday the sale became official, and the Sens are now owned by Michael Andlauer.

[Senators Sale to Michael Andlauer is Now OfficialThe Sens officially have a new owner![](https://www.silversevensens.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2023/06/S7Cup_FullColour_ClearBG-1.png)Silver SevenRoss Arnold![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1636206145366-0390be0e16a0?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fHNvbGR8ZW58MHx8fHwxNjk1MzMzMjkwfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000)](https://www.silversevensens.com/senators-sale-to-michael-andlauer-is-now-official/?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Finally, Micah McCurdy made his career shooting and saving versus expected visualizations free on his website, and they’re really neat!

[https://x.com/IneffectiveMath/status/1704923271588708767?s=20](https://x.com/IneffectiveMath/status/1704923271588708767?s=20&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

For example, last season Nylander was no sniper. He didn’t score exceptionally well off low-percentage chances (to the left of the graph). However, he was money on medium and very high-percentage chances:

![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/WXlU_YKg5-WPzjNqDrLlIaKtiGHmSTAR_JGVJocvuHuqO_pqlWA_krct5vbR-tilCzKVe4QvGEhl76uFa0pUctBVHhLIjQ2qdJ68ByWa1i9RgzX8EUSrmgBOiLQoR8bVK8jroGw-RheXKFBkySwR_iE)

Alternatively, you can see that Samsonov has been very good here, but not so much before that:

![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/d-tjnwZxMk_ZNkXoROuzUuoDeKHXG84Hb-33-Do80uYeyWNfue_gyinfRubFYuU8CxAAjulgeJHVPXz9ynfqcSs2O-6sFIzP4lc9NabOykVAJNVZhtt48HoBknjWGvOWBslwTc6Cv7KWNZUxlAS0BLA)

But whatever you can say about Samsonov's time in Washington, he’s no Toskala.

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6Sqk4gxM5z1tKBoeanDar1UHmGgTr5VXN-kP4gvw67xfT_2KRR67_xB_gaJ7rJJChWCJf-OI2WVLUOI_jKcrv0xZjGveHz7ZTKr-TlvBkCGic01lEDOSifNlpirDm6fS8Ak_GCSru_6wTnJ0LsBDTQU)

Happy Friday everyone!