Sorry for the late start today, it's a very preseason day.

You can start with the comments from yesterday, although there were no meaningful hints about who is playing tonight. There is lots of Cowan and Danford.

One of the issues rarely talked about in relation to the new playoff salary cap is dead cap space and its effect on icing the best roster. This change might make teams second guess a buyout a little harder.

A little bit of unburiable cap hit is not going to hurt anyone, but no one wants a $10 million hit to the bottom line.

Posting this, not because it's about the Jays so much as it's one of those interesting unverifiable ideas about the psychology of sport. Is this real or confirmation bias in the people looking for it?

Why the Maple Leafs’ bottom-six forwards matter more than ever
Through the Core Four years, the Maple Leafs relied on the top of the lineup to get them through, while the bottom six mattered less. But this year, the first without Mitch Marner, the depth of the team will be more important than ever, writes Justin Bourne.
Sportsnet.caJustin Bourne

First question: did the bottom six matter less or was Kyle Dubas just trying to do something totally different with it that did not succeed? And was it the core (number withheld) that caused that or the cost of his goalies?

We've reached the point of preseason when there's nothing going on really until we find out who is more injured than they are letting on. Teams will begin to winnow down the roster soon. Craig Berube talks in the video above about just getting the team together and practicing as a team. You can tell he's had enough playschool hockey.

That likely won't actually happen right away, however. Game Preview will be out later today, have a good one.

From The Branches