Following their win over the Montreal Canadiens last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced five more cuts to their NHL camp roster. None of these names are surprises, although it’s notable that Nikita Gusev has been formally released from his PTO. It was pretty clear he wasn’t getting a contract, but now it is for sure.

Rubīns, Hollowell, and Källgren didn’t especially stand out at camp, but Der-Arguchintsev was really impressive in the games he played, especially this most recent game. He’s very pro-ready and I’m very excited to see him come into the NHL in the next couple years as a middle-six centre. Yeah, I think he’s that close.

This wasn’t the only bit of Marlies news yesterday, not by a long shot. First, the Leafs cut a bunch of players, including Nick Robertson, Mikhail Abramov, and the already-waived Teemu Kivihalme.

And during the game, the Toronto Marlies officially announced that they have signed Josh Ho-Sang to an AHL contract. As of right now, Ho-Sang has been released from his PTO and will be joining Marlies training camp. While this contract is very exciting, it’s important to note that Ho-Sang can’t play in the NHL until he has an NHL deal — he can sign one at any time. If he does sign an NHL contract, he would have to clear waivers to go back to the minors.

Leafs cut seven players to the AHL, including Nick Robertson
Toronto Marlies sign Josh Ho-Sang to an AHL deal

The Marlies camp roster is now a whole bunch bigger, but if you take the players that were sent down yesterday along with a couple players currently at Marlies camp (Gogolev, Clune, Douglas), you have yourself the Marlies for this season and they’re quite an exciting group.

Toronto Marlies announce their training camp roster

Now that all these moves have happened, here’s what the Leafs camp now looks like:

Forwards (19): Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Kerfoot, Ritchie, Mikheyev, Kampf, Kase, Engvall, Bunting, Simmonds, Spezza, Brooks, Semyonov, Anderson, Gabriel, Amadio, Seney

Defense (10): Muzzin, Rielly, Brodie, Holl, Dermott, Sandin, Liljegren, Biega, Dahlstrom, Menell

Goalies (3): Mrazek, Campbell, Hutchinson (pending waivers), Woll (inj), Scott (inj)

32 players, and they gotta get down to 23 (really 21) in about six days. The only players left who don’t require waivers to be moved to the Marlies are Semyonov and Liljegren.

Various Leafs and Branches

Game Recap: Leafs clown the Habs | by: Brigstew

Michael Hutchinson on waivers today | by: Katya

Should Josh Ho-Sang get a contract? | by: Katya

Toronto Marlies sign Josh Ho-Sang to an AHL deal | by: Katya

Leafs cut seven players to the AHL, including Nick Robertson | by: Fulemin

Toronto Marlies announce their training camp roster | by: Katya

Micah’s 2021-22 Regular Season Preview | by: Hockey Viz (go see where he put the Leafs, I dare you)

Anti-Vax NHLer Got a Serious COVID Side Effect. Anti-Vaxxers Blame Vaccines Anyway. | from: Vice

Latest Evander Kane Probe Centers Around Fake Vaccine Card | from: Front Office Sports

Welcome to The Locker Room | from: Davy Jones Lock Room (new SBN site!)

Burying the lede, but Alex Galchenyuk has signed a league minimum contract with the Arizona Coyotes. It’s being reported from Craig Morgan that he did in fact turn down an offer from Toronto, presumably the Leafs got Nick Ritchie late in free agency with that money instead.

The Ottawa Senators have still not signed Brady Tkachuk, and will need to fast lest they incur a penalty for being under the salary cap floor. The team does have Tyler Ennis on a PTO and he’s expected to sign a contract big enough to get the team up to the floor if Tkachuk isn’t signed, but the clock is ticking while Eugene scrounges for pennies under the couch.

This wasn’t even one brawl, there were several fights throughout the third period!

The two Victoriaville Tigers players charged with sexual assault have been named. Nicolas Daigle and Massimo Siciliano are now officially under investigation by the QMJHL (separate from their legal criminal case) and they’ll likely face a ban of some sort. For context, Logan Mailloux is under an indefinite ban that can be reviewed on January 1st. It should be mentioned that Daigle attended the Anaheim Ducks rookie camp over the summer after the charges were filed.

Robin Lehner published his press conference yesterday via the Golden Knights youtube account following his talks with the NHL and NHLPA.

From The Branches