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# Monday's FTB: Roster day
- URL: https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/mondays-ftb-roster-day/
- Published: 2026-09-28T10:00:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-28T10:00:02.000Z
- Description: Expect this to be pretty boring for the Leafs
- Author: Cathy Squires
- Tags: From The Branches

The Leafs did their roster shuffle already, and have some final adjustments to make, which will set the opening day roster today at 5pm. What the playing roster becomes over the next few weeks can change, as they have built in a lot of flexibility.

They signed Nick Blankenburg to an amount in the range of their other depth defenders that was designed to maximize the best use of LTIR. 

Today's roster is all done but the minor details. Who is on IR to make it all add up? It barely matters. The ultimate roster for the first part of the season can and likely will change at the fringes, but this has been a drama free, no risk of waiver claims preseason.

Meanwhile it's that time when teams waiting to sign UFAs get down to it. Often the last minute thing involves cap calculations. 

Logan Stanley was signed by the Islanders, Nathan Bastian by the Panthers, and Alex Nylander and Matt Grzelcyk were signed by their PTO teams. Nylander is in the AHL now, but Grzelcyk made the Sabres.

There are some UFAs very likely to get deals soon as teams sort things out. There were also only 71 players on waivers yesterday, as the new training camp schedule allows some teams to do all of this early. 

Looking ahead to Wednesday, the Islanders have some injuries and are not sure yet who will play in what is their season opening and is the Leafs first SAGABABA.

[NHL Status Report: Barzal to travel with Islanders, not ruled out for opener | NHL.comNew York signs Stanley to 1-year contract; Rust being evaluated for upper-body injury![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/34/01/3401a938-f468-4c02-a227-9bc4cc09bad4/content/images/icon/favicon-32x32-a445b150-0db8-406c-81f0-c8cd3bde339d.png)NHL logoNHLMedia![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/34/01/3401a938-f468-4c02-a227-9bc4cc09bad4/content/images/thumbnail/zbj7ubnm3klq1dnpxlzs-f4d270c7-f1ec-4043-86f1-0fe803dac789.jpg)](https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-status-report-news-and-notes-september-27-2026?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Let's talk about what really matters, though. Who on the Leafs scored the most in preseason? With four points, it's Auston Matthews and John Tavares, and Matthews led in SOG, and of course Henrik Rybinski led in goals. So that's clearly a sign of who is best.

And the other sign the preseason is over and the real thing is about to begin is the bling: 

> Champs has a nice ring to it 🏆 [pic.twitter.com/qTGqLj7Xzc](https://t.co/qTGqLj7Xzc?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) [September 28, 2026](https://x.com/Canes/status/2104369008657002861?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

Happy last day of training camp, everyone.