There’s only so much you can take out of drills on days like today. Players are still getting into game shape, and the lines are a bit of a jumbled mess for now.

One positive, though? Auston Matthews’ health. Matthews played through injuries last season, resulting in a step back, performance-wise. It doesn’t look like that should be a problem heading into the 2025-26 preseason, though.

“I’m super happy with how I feel and how the first two days have gone,” Matthews said during a media scrum on Friday. “That’s all you can ask for. You never really know until you get back out and you can do everything in he summer, and train and skate. But once you get back into this kind of feeling, you want to respond and feel really good. And I definitely have.”

His coach, Craig Berube, has noticed the positives early on.

“I see him, he’s more engaged. I think he’s feeling good,” Berube said. “He’s harder, heavier on pucks. You can see a little bit of difference out there.”

Here’s what you need to know from the second day of Maple Leafs’ training camp:

Joseph Woll’s blocker hand looks faster

Many goaltenders will talk about their blocker hand being the slowest element of their game. It’s understandable – they’re carrying the biggest stick on the ice. It’s a weakness that top NHL shooters will often try to exploit. According to SportContract, Woll allowed 49 goals on the blocker side last season. It’s below his glove hand (56), but it’s good to see him being a bit more active with his right blocking arm. As a whole, it felt like Woll was much slower getting up from shots during practice than any other goaltender.

Dakota Joshua, Nicolas Roy make the Leafs tougher to play against

Training camp lines are utterly pointless to break down, for the most part. But over two days, Joshua and Roy have proven to be physically dominant in drills. Nobody is going flat out, of course, but the 6-foot-4, 201-pound Roy and the 6-foot-3, 218-pound Joshua aren’t afraid to lay a guy flat out if needed. Easton Cowan has skated on the wing with them both days, too. I’ve been most impressed with Roy’s ability to get to the front of the net and make noise, while Joshua looks a little faster with the puck, too. Look for both to start the season on the third line.

OEL to the PP?

Believe it or not, Oliver Ekman-Larsson used to be lethal on the power play for Arizona. When he put up a career-best 55 points in 2015-16, OEL registered 12 goals and 15 assists on the man advantage. In Toronto, though, he had just four points last year while Morgan Rielly took the bulk of the opportunities on PP1. With OEL expected to start the year on PP2, he’s looking to improve his impact while up a player. “I would love to get on the power play,” OEL told the media on Friday morning. “I’m pushing for that. At the same time, I’m supporting everybody who’s on the power play, penalty kill and 5-on-5. That’s what we need to do to have that winning culture around here.”

Training camp three stars

People love to over-evaluate “training camp performances”… and I’ll do the same today. I was impressed with how prospect Ben Danford battled with Group 1. He rarely lost the 1-on-1 individual battles they had early in practice, using a good mix of footwork, poke checks and defensive awareness. He mostly went up against Toronto’s bottom-six players, but he looked motivated to impress every time he started moving.

The same goes for Henry Thrun, who proved to be a pain in the rear end for guys like Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. It felt like Thrun was coming out on top every single time. Not too shabby for someone trying to force their way into the NHL lineup. I also liked Scott Laughton, who I thought stood out ahead of most other bottom-six players today. Strong, quick shot and always trying to get the upper-edge in drills.

Other Tidbits

Multiple players have been wearing what looked to be a bandage on their forehead. According to the Maple Leafs’ PR, it’s a tool used by Gatorade during training camp each year to measure a player’s sweat rate. Of note, I saw Nicolas Roy and Blake Smith sporting it today.
Easton Cowan said he added seven pounds of muscle this summer, and it was evident today. He battled much harder than we saw him during the Leafs’ prospect tournament. He plays an edgier game, and while he could hit kids in the OHL, it’s a different story going up against someone like Simon Benoit.
Max Domi skated on his own today before the groups went onto the ice. Domi is day-to-day with an injury suffered prior to camp. Domi will likely take Matias Maccelli’s spot on the top line with Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews once he’s ready to go.
Matthews had a few chats with Borya Valis, who served as an extra forward with Group 1 today. Not a bad player for the young pro rookie to get some advice from. Valis, in particular, seemed to do well in the individual battles.

Lines

Group 1

Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Matias Maccelli
Stephen Lorentz – Scott Laughton – Nick Robertson
Michael Pezzetta – David Kampf – Calle Jarnkrok
Ryan Tverberg – B-O Groulx – Matthew Barbolini
Borya Valis

Morgan Rielly – Brandon Carlo
Henry Thrun – Philippe Myers
Marshall Rifai – Ben Danford
Noah Chadwick – Matthew Benning

Anthony Stolarz
Dennis Hildeby

Group 2

Bobby McMann – John Tavares – William Nylander
Dakota Joshua – Nicolas Roy – Easton Cowan
Travis Boyd – Luke Haymes – Alex Nylander
Landon Sim – Jacob Quillan – Vinni Lettieri
Tyler Hopkins

Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Simon Benoit
Blake Smith – Dakota Mermis
Cade Webber – William Villeneuve

Joseph Woll
Artur Akhtyamov

PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST

Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.