The preseason is winding down as the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Detroit Red Wings in its final exhibition game, before the regular season begins on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens.

Here’s what we saw and heard during Saturday’s morning skate, with a lookahead to the game.

Simon Benoit was the first player to take the ice, followed by Auston Matthews, before the rest of the team joined for a full morning skate. Calle Jarnkrok and Jake McCabe did not skate and are still considered day-to-day, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed.

Joseph Woll will start Saturday’s game and is expected to play the full 60 minutes. It will be Woll’s first full start of the preseason and he’s assumed to be Wednesday’s starter against the Canadiens, although no formal declaration has been made.

Although it can be difficult to separate yourself from others in practice, even in casual scenarios, Matthews looks like a man on a mission. During a faceoff drill against Steven Lorentz, Matthews won all five reps, much to the casual awe of his teammates.

Nick Robertson returned to practice and spoke to reporters about feeling healthy and confident after an excellent training camp. Robertson scored five goals during the preseason and will not play Saturday, with his spot on the team essentially clinched.

Toronto elected to run its nominal starting power play unit. On the other end of the arena, where the second power play unit featuring Matthew Knies, Max Domi, Max Pacioretty, Bobby McMann Oliver Ekman-Larsson were taking reps, Timothy Liljegren was watching the drills unfold.

It appears, at least for the time being, that Conor Timmins may have legitimately usurped him in the lineup as a right-shot defenceman with some offensive upside. Phillippe Myers is also in the lineup Saturday after a quietly stellar training camp and though Toronto’s top-six defencemen appeared to be locked in at the outset of camp, there may be a new wrinkle if Timmins and Myers continue to ascend, while Liljegren could be the odd man out.

Conor Timmins appears to be ascending through the final stages of training camp and he’ll be paired alongside Simon Benoit — the positive surprise of the 2024 campaign — Saturday evening. Timmins may have earned a spot on the opening night roster as Toronto’s No. 6 defenceman and spoke to reporters afterwards.

“It’s going to be fun. I haven’t played a home game yet this preseason. That will be good to play in front of the fans. As a team, we want to dial in our details and make sure we play the right way.”

Timmins also spoke about his partnership with Simon Benoit, while noting with a smile that the new father is coming to the rink a bit more tired than before.

“We compliment each other really well. Great friends off the ice, so it’s been fun.”

Benoit and Timmins complement each other’s skill set, as the former operates as a physical defenceman with stellar work in his own end, while Timmins is an offensively minded defenceman, whose upside needs to outweigh some defensive lapses.

Nick Robertson has arguably been the story of the training camp and he’s clearly emerged as the Maple Leafs’ training camp MVP with five goals. Robertson spoke to reporters where he seemed relieved to have clinched his spot on the opening day lineup.

“It means a lot. I was actually talking to my parents about it. They’re going to come up for it. It’s something that I now was thinking about coming to camp and I’m glad,” Robertson said Saturday morning.

Max Pacioretty spoke about the escalating importance of each preseason game and he’ll factor in the lineup again, where Berube will likely get a better sense of how he’ll deploy the veteran forward in the lineup.

“Now it’s time to get serious. It’s not to say the other five games weren’t serious but now it’s time to feel good about your game, and not just the points, the little details that make your team successful. You want to prove your identity with a new coach and try yourself personally and the organization right way and tonight is about cleaning up all the little details in your game.”

Pacioretty also spoke to the importance of the Maple Leafs having positional flexibility across the lineup.

“It’s very advantageous,” Pacioretty said about having multiple players on the roster who can play either centre or wing.

“I think especially depth like that, down the road, down the stretch, whether it was injuries or not. Whether guys are feeling good about their game or not, or having to get guys going. If I were a coach, I would definitely like to have that in my back pocket. Kind of some Swiss Army knife guys who can play up and down throughout the lineup. Good guys who are willing to do it for the team is what (we) have here. It might be an opportunity up the lineup to play in a certain spot but maybe it helps the team to play a little bit down the lineup in another spot. And you need those selfless players that we feel we have here to help the team in that sense.”