Ahead of Thursday’s preseason game, the Toronto Maple Leafs made an additional round of roster cuts, reassigning 21 players to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.

Nick Abruzzese has been placed on waivers for the purpose of being reassigned to the Marlies.

Matthew Barbolini, Jacob Frasca, Mathieu Gosselin, Braden Kressler, Brandon Lisowsky, Robert Mastrosimone, Marko Sikic, Zach Solow, Sam Stevens and Ty Voit are among the forwards that were sent to the Marlies.

Matt Anderson, Jacob Bengtsson, Ryan McCleary, Tommy Miller, Rhett Parsons, Chas Sharpe, William Villeneuve are among the goaltenders sent to the Marlies. Jon Gillies, Dennis Hildeby and Vyacheslav Peska are the goalies heading to the Marlies.

Hildeby does not require waivers and he’s quickly emerging as one of the rising stars within the organization, with a real chance to excel at the AHL level before making a stronger, concerted push towards an NHL spot. Kressler, Peksa, Voit and Villeneuve also do not require waivers.

Toronto unveiled its roster for Thursday’s preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings where Easton Cowan, Nikita Grebenkin and Steven Lorentz are among the forwards looking to carve a spot onto the opening day roster. Thursday and Saturday’s contests against the Red Wings cap off a six-game preseason and the roster should come into further focus after the home-and-home series concludes.

Maple Leafs’ first round pick Ben Danford was previously returned to the Oshawa Generals. Danford suffered a concussion during a September practice ahead of the Prospects Tournament and did not participate throughout camp. He was named as Oshawa’s captain on Wednesday.

We’ll keep you posted as the Maple Leafs continue to make their final round of cuts, with all eyes on Cowan, Grebenkin and Lorentz on Thursday evening.

Toronto begins its regular season against the Montreal Canadiens on October 9 at the Bell Centre.