<p>We&#8217;re down to the final week of training camp as the Toronto Maple Leafs are down to one practice squad for the final two preseason games. Toronto did not formally announce any cuts Monday, with the exception of 2024 first-rounder Ben Danford, who has been <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-loan-2024-first-round-pick-ben-danford">loaned back to the OHL&#8217;s Oshawa Generals</a>. The roster is coming into further focus, before the club heads to Bracebridge, Ontario for team bonding exercises.</p>
<p>Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin remain among the camp hopefuls, while a number of roster regulars are shaking off injury scares and should be back to full health before opening night, where the Maple Leafs square off against the Montreal Canadiens on October 9.</p>
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<p>Here&#8217;s what you need to know about the Maple Leafs entering this week:</p>
<h3>The spotlight grows even brighter as Easton Cowan, Nikita Grebenkin remain in camp</h3>
<p>While the Maple Leafs did not formally announce any cuts, Monday&#8217;s practice roster is a good indication of where the club stands entering the final week of training camp. Cowan is the Maple Leafs&#8217; top prospect and the club has afforded him every chance to make the opening night roster, as he was placed on a line with Max Domi and Mitch Marner during Thursday&#8217;s preseason win against the Montreal Canadiens, and has been the lone participant in all four preseason contests.</p>
<p>Cowan has nothing left to prove at the major junior level but is ineligible to start the year in the AHL, so the onus is on him to prove that he&#8217;s one of the best 12 forwards — and one of the nine most offensively gifted forwards, given that the Leafs almost certainly wouldn&#8217;t start him on the fourth line, for the remainder of camp. He&#8217;s produced middling results thus far, showing flashes of the high-end skill that he appears certain to display more regularly at the NHL level, with a few defensive lapses, and he needs to get stronger on the puck, especially on the cycle.</p>
<p>Grebenkin has functioned as the sleeper to make the team coming out of camp, as the Maple Leafs boast a surplus of NHL-calibre forwards — including Cowan, for what it&#8217;s worth, in what may be one of the deepest pools in the league. His combination of size, speed and physicality has been intriguing for management, but eventually, like Cowan, the production needs to come through or else it may be in Grebenkin&#8217;s best interest to start the year with the AHL&#8217;s Toronto Marlies.</p>
<p>Max Pacioretty has separated himself for a roster spot, and TSN&#8217;s Darren Dreger reported Saturday that David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok could be <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/dreger-maple-leafs-calle-jarnkrok-david-kampf-potential-trade-candidates">potential trade candidates</a>. Putting aside the analysis for a second — it makes little sense for the Maple Leafs to trade Jarnkrok, who is the hallmark of consistency, and will be asked to be a defensively responsible presence throughout the lineup — there is a real surplus at forward, with PTO Steven Lorentz and Pontus Holmberg still looking to punch their ticket into the October 9 lineup card. The spotlight is really heating up on both camp hopefuls, who represent the next wave of the Maple Leafs&#8217; timeline.</p>
<h3>William Nylander&#8217;s experiment at centre continues</h3>
<p>William Nylander and Max Domi both took reps at centre during practice, but the experiment will continue throughout training camp. Nylander was expected to get an extended look through the middle and though he split reps with Domi, it appears that Berube is trying to get a sense of his team&#8217;s positional flexibility before the regular season, a key component of championship teams.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think the versatility is good to be able to go, if I need to go there for a shift or two and then go to the wing for a shift or two. To be able to do that is just important,&#8221; Nylander said Monday via <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/its-no-big-deal-wherever-i-end-up-playing-it-doesnt-matter-william-nylander-preaches-versatility-as-forward-takes-reps-at-center-and-wing-during-maple-leafs-practice">Nick Barden of The Hockey News</a>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s clever for Berube to start tinkering with his optimal lineups before the games truly matter. Domi found tremendous success as a playmaker on the left wing, carving up teams in the second half of the year with his lateral playmaking, with the scope of his defensive responsibilities toned down, while Berube previously advocated for Nylander&#8217;s elite skating and puck carrying as key qualities.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a work in progress is the way I put it,&#8221; Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Monday of the ability to switch positions. &#8220;It&#8217;s not easy to just switch it over and play center. It&#8217;s a lot more on your plate. I think he&#8217;s done a pretty good job. Again, throughout the season it&#8217;d be nice to have a right-handed faceoff guy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Nylander at centre seems like the easiest pathway to greater minutes, and it&#8217;s important to test him and Domi out at both centre and wing. John Tavares has played centre throughout camp but at some point this season, it wouldn&#8217;t be particularly surprising to see him get a few reps on the wing as well. Positional flexibility certainly matters, and it appears that Berube is merely experimenting with some new combinations, while Nylander and Domi have been paired together nearly exclusively throughout camp.</p>
<h3>Tavares, Jarnkrok will return to practice Wednesday</h3>
<p>John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok are expected to return to practice Wednesday, Berube confirmed Monday via <a href="https://x.com/markhmasters/status/1840775302005276882">TSN&#8217;s Mark Masters</a>. Tavares collided with Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta during the first period of Thursday&#8217;s contest and though he remained in the game, he saw diminished ice time during the third frame. After the game, Tavares confirmed that he felt some stiffness in his leg and ultimately, it wasn&#8217;t worth pushing through.</p>
<p>Jarnkrok has been skating throughout the past week, and was seen getting reps in with Auston Matthews before Thursday&#8217;s practice sessions formally began. He initially started camp alongside Domi and Nylander, and his return to practice will help stabilize Toronto&#8217;s forward group, that is still sorting through some healthy, heated internal competition.</p>
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We're down to the final week of training camp as the Toronto Maple Leafs are down to one practice squad for the final two preseason games. Toronto did not formally announce any cuts Monday, with the exception of 2024 first-rounder Ben Danford, who has been <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-loan-2024-first-round-pick-ben-danford">loaned back to the OHL's Oshawa Generals</a>. The roster is coming into further focus, before the club heads to Bracebridge, Ontario for team bonding exercises.

Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin remain among the camp hopefuls, while a number of roster regulars are shaking off injury scares and should be back to full health before opening night, where the Maple Leafs square off against the Montreal Canadiens on October 9.
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Here's what you need to know about the Maple Leafs entering this week:
<h3>The spotlight grows even brighter as Easton Cowan, Nikita Grebenkin remain in camp</h3>
While the Maple Leafs did not formally announce any cuts, Monday's practice roster is a good indication of where the club stands entering the final week of training camp. Cowan is the Maple Leafs' top prospect and the club has afforded him every chance to make the opening night roster, as he was placed on a line with Max Domi and Mitch Marner during Thursday's preseason win against the Montreal Canadiens, and has been the lone participant in all four preseason contests.

Cowan has nothing left to prove at the major junior level but is ineligible to start the year in the AHL, so the onus is on him to prove that he's one of the best 12 forwards — and one of the nine most offensively gifted forwards, given that the Leafs almost certainly wouldn't start him on the fourth line, for the remainder of camp. He's produced middling results thus far, showing flashes of the high-end skill that he appears certain to display more regularly at the NHL level, with a few defensive lapses, and he needs to get stronger on the puck, especially on the cycle.

Grebenkin has functioned as the sleeper to make the team coming out of camp, as the Maple Leafs boast a surplus of NHL-calibre forwards — including Cowan, for what it's worth, in what may be one of the deepest pools in the league. His combination of size, speed and physicality has been intriguing for management, but eventually, like Cowan, the production needs to come through or else it may be in Grebenkin's best interest to start the year with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

Max Pacioretty has separated himself for a roster spot, and TSN's Darren Dreger reported Saturday that David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok could be <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/dreger-maple-leafs-calle-jarnkrok-david-kampf-potential-trade-candidates">potential trade candidates</a>. Putting aside the analysis for a second — it makes little sense for the Maple Leafs to trade Jarnkrok, who is the hallmark of consistency, and will be asked to be a defensively responsible presence throughout the lineup — there is a real surplus at forward, with PTO Steven Lorentz and Pontus Holmberg still looking to punch their ticket into the October 9 lineup card. The spotlight is really heating up on both camp hopefuls, who represent the next wave of the Maple Leafs' timeline.
<h3>William Nylander's experiment at centre continues</h3>
William Nylander and Max Domi both took reps at centre during practice, but the experiment will continue throughout training camp. Nylander was expected to get an extended look through the middle and though he split reps with Domi, it appears that Berube is trying to get a sense of his team's positional flexibility before the regular season, a key component of championship teams.

"I think the versatility is good to be able to go, if I need to go there for a shift or two and then go to the wing for a shift or two. To be able to do that is just important," Nylander said Monday via <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/its-no-big-deal-wherever-i-end-up-playing-it-doesnt-matter-william-nylander-preaches-versatility-as-forward-takes-reps-at-center-and-wing-during-maple-leafs-practice">Nick Barden of The Hockey News</a>.

It's clever for Berube to start tinkering with his optimal lineups before the games truly matter. Domi found tremendous success as a playmaker on the left wing, carving up teams in the second half of the year with his lateral playmaking, with the scope of his defensive responsibilities toned down, while Berube previously advocated for Nylander's elite skating and puck carrying as key qualities.

"It's a work in progress is the way I put it," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Monday of the ability to switch positions. "It's not easy to just switch it over and play center. It's a lot more on your plate. I think he's done a pretty good job. Again, throughout the season it'd be nice to have a right-handed faceoff guy."

Nylander at centre seems like the easiest pathway to greater minutes, and it's important to test him and Domi out at both centre and wing. John Tavares has played centre throughout camp but at some point this season, it wouldn't be particularly surprising to see him get a few reps on the wing as well. Positional flexibility certainly matters, and it appears that Berube is merely experimenting with some new combinations, while Nylander and Domi have been paired together nearly exclusively throughout camp.
<h3>Tavares, Jarnkrok will return to practice Wednesday</h3>
John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok are expected to return to practice Wednesday, Berube confirmed Monday via <a href="https://x.com/markhmasters/status/1840775302005276882">TSN's Mark Masters</a>. Tavares collided with Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta during the first period of Thursday's contest and though he remained in the game, he saw diminished ice time during the third frame. After the game, Tavares confirmed that he felt some stiffness in his leg and ultimately, it wasn't worth pushing through.

Jarnkrok has been skating throughout the past week, and was seen getting reps in with Auston Matthews before Thursday's practice sessions formally began. He initially started camp alongside Domi and Nylander, and his return to practice will help stabilize Toronto's forward group, that is still sorting through some healthy, heated internal competition.
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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Training camp notebook: Leafs down to lone practice group, Nylander at centre continues

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