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Maple Leafs announce opening night roster, finalize cuts
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Arun Srinivasan
Oct 7, 2024, 15:27 EDTUpdated: Oct 8, 2024, 09:46 EDT
The Toronto Maple Leafs finalized their opening night roster, ahead of Wednesday’s regular season opener against the Montreal Canadiens.
Connor Dewar and Fraser Minten have been placed on injured reserve. Calle Jarnkrok (lower-body injury), Jani Hakanpaa (lower-body) and Dakota Mermis (upper-body) have placed on long-term injured reserve. Jarnkrok was previously considered day-to-day and Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters Monday that his timeline to return was unknown.
Easton Cowan was also returned to the OHL’s London Knights. Cowan is Toronto’s top prospect and emerged as one of the brightest young talents in hockey after a tour-de-force major junior season last year. The 19-year-old recorded two assists in five preseason games, where he showed glimpses of his high-end offensive skill set.
Toronto signed Max Pacioretty to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million, with a cap hit of $873,770 on Monday. Pacioretty’s new deal is also tied to bonus structures around games played, with two separate bonuses kicking in at the 10-game and 35-game parameters. The veteran of 902 games is expected to start the year on a line alongside Pontus Holmberg and Nick Robertson.
Steven Lorentz was also signed to a one-year deal worth $775,000. Lorentz, like Pacioretty, joined the Maple Leafs on a professional tryout agreement and won over management with his combination of size, speed, while becoming one of the most well-liked players in the room. The 28-year-old helped the Florida Panthers win their first-ever Stanley Cup last season, adding two goals and three points in 16 playoff games. He will likely begin the year on Toronto’s fourth line paired with David Kampf and Ryan Reaves.
“I just looked at the lineup here and I thought there was a lot of potential to be able to come in. And obviously with the talent offensively that they have that I could just carve out a role in the bottom six,” Lorentz said Monday.
Marshall Rifai and Matt Murray also cleared waivers Monday and were returned to the Marlies. Rifai and Murray were placed on waivers Sunday. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that Murray’s one-year, $875,000 contract signed with the Maple Leafs on July 2, included a $100,000 signing bonus that will be activated Thursday, as a potential deterrent to other teams trying to acquire the veteran goalie.
Rifai was one of the training camp standouts, impressing management and teammates alike with his physicality, his willingness to engage other opponents and his improved positional sense.
Here is the full roster:

Forwards 

Max Domi
Pontus Holmberg
David Kampf
Matthew Knies
Steven Lorentz
Mitch Marner
Auston Matthews
Bobby McMann
William Nylander
Max Pacioretty
Ryan Reaves
Nick Robertson
John Tavares

Defencemen

Simon Benoit
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Timothy Liljegren
Jake McCabe
Philippe Myers
Morgan Rielly
Chris Tanev
Conor Timmins

Goaltenders

Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll

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