Preseason done right:

Two day, two split-squad games. Times to be announced at a later date. I am here for this very limited run of fake games.

Toronto opens against Hamilton on October 3, and Hamilton opens against Toronto on October 9.

Alfredsson's media availability confirms that he interviewed for the head-coaching job because his contract was up at the end of June in Ottawa and he wanted more opportunity. The Senators granted him permission to do that earlier interview.

Alfredsson is going to have some input on the power play, and as Lance Hornby reported:

While the new-look staff’s roles aren’t settled yet according to Alfredsson, he will share some of the critical power-play duties with Hiller and the offence in general.
Both specialized in the man advantage in their playing days, Alfredsson obviously a lot more with 428 points, ranking 48th in National Hockey League power play history. Ottawa was eighth in the league in regular season at 24% success, while the Leafs struggled until assistant Marc Savard was fired in December. 

Alfredsson also discussed the Leafs problems last season, and suggested some of the problem was a loss in confidence. When I looked at the power play at the time Savard was fired, my conclusion was that part of their problem was just a low Shooting % that would fix itself if you wait long enough, but the bigger problem was an overall very low shot rate. So yes, it needs some work, but some of that low shot rate might well have been indecision or The Malaise that seemed to affect everyone's thinking speed.

Bottom line, they should be one of the best teams in the league on the power play, and more importantly they need to be.

The staff is almost sorted, but no mention was made of Steve Sullivan, who ran the power play after the firing of Savard, in yesterday's big announcement. Speculation has him taking over the Marlies, but that is not confirmed.

In other news:

Leafs re-sign Quillan, Tverberg, and Villeneuve
Summer business is done on Day 67 of the Chayka Era
PPP LeafsHardev

The NHL is changing:

One thing I've noticed is how weird/fun it is that Nashville is now "one of us" and also that we are back to being "us".

And that's it for today, have a great day everyone.

From The Branches