As per Twitter, the Maple Leafs have made their final cuts. As hoped for by many, Morgan Rielly will be heading back to Moose Jaw of the WHL to complete his junior year before probably joining the Marlies for the playoffs. Matt Frattin looks to be the odd man out for some reason and will be re-joining the Toronto Marlies. Jake Gardiner is practicing with the team today for the first time in over a month so he could be ready to go soon. Based on the rumoured lines, it looks like Orr and Steckel will jockey for the 13th forward role while Mark Fraser and Mike Kostka get to continue their tryouts until Gardiner returns.
The lins at practice today are as follows:
Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
James van Riemsdyk - Nazem Kadri - Leo Komarov
Colton Orr - Jay McClement - Mike Brown
Extra: David Steckel
The Leafs are still carrying nine defencemen.
Frattin being sent to the Marlies shouldn't come as too much of a surprise as Randy Carlyle was talking about his recent struggles. He seems to have tipped off all of the moves in his interviews during training camp. Keeping Orr and Steckel over him is disappointing but the guy shouldn't be wasted in the press box. I expect he'll be back up soon and that Orr won't play much. Apparently he has two games left of waiver exemption which explains the decision. Orr can sit in the press box but it wouldn't help Frattin so he'll go back to playing a big role there.
So that looks to be the group from which the lineup for Saturday night against Montreal will be chosen. What are your thoughts?