It was a light optional skate for the Toronto Maple Leafs, ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Ottawa Senators. Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann Chris Tanev, Jani Hakanpaa, Philippe Myers, Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll were among the attendees. Stolarz is the projected starter for Tuesday’s game.

Alex Steeves was called up to the roster on an emergency basis, as the Maple Leafs will be without Auston Matthews and Max Pacioretty on Tuesday evening due to injuries.

“We’re just trying to manage it. Just trying to make sure when he comes back he’s good and 100 percent,” Berube said of Matthews.

Connor Dewar will make his season debut, while Stolarz is the projected starter for the Maple Leafs. Here’s what you need to know from the morning:

Connor Dewar was activated from long-term injured reserve on Friday and he will make his season debut Tuesday. Dewar is a bottom-six forward who can play the penalty kill, and we’ll get our first look on how he’ll factor in Craig Berube’s system.

“Simplify, right,” Berube said when asked what Dewar needs to do in his season debut. “He went down and played (with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies). Been a while but he’s been practicing with us, so he’s familiar with everything. Timing and things like that. NHL speed in a game, just simplify, just play your game. He’s a high-energy guy, physical, grinding it out and checking and all of those things. First game back, it’s been a long time for him. Getting up to speed, it’s a fast game out there. Just got to make sure he’s simplifying and smart.”

Ottawa is off to a middling 7-7 start but the Atlantic Division remains wide open through mid-November. Berube and Jake McCabe both spoke about the challenges the Senators present ahead of Tuesday’s Battle of Ontario.

“They have a lot of fire power, they have a lot of good players. These guys are maturing as it goes along and are getting better and better, right. You’ve got (Jake) Sanderson and (Thomas) Chabot on the back end, they are highly skilled d-men who can really skate and get up the ice. Up front, we know the guys that they have. We can’t give them freebies tonight. We’ve got to make them work for everything, we’ve got to make them earn everything they get. We can’t be giving up odd-man rushes. We’ve got to check extremely well tonight against this team. That’s what it boils downs to me.

Jake McCabe met with media before the morning skate and spoke about the Leafs’ run of defensive success during the three-game winning streak, where they’ve held opponents to two goals. McCabe also expanded on Sanderson, and what he means to the Senators.

“Talking about a guy like Sanderson that you brought up, he’s a phenomenal player,” McCabe said. “He can do it at both ends of the ice, he’s great with the puck, great skater. He runs their power play. He’s a great player you’ve got to key in on and not let him get activated in the rush.”

Linus Ullmark (confirmed starter)

Anton Forsberg

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