Leaf Pre-Season Kicks Off

After following the Coyotes legal case all summer it was great to finally see some action on the ice last night. Sure it was only the first exhibition game, but there were some positive signs last night.

The two players that impressed me most were Stalberg and Bozak. Stalberg’s speed and size stood out throughout the game. He outplayed Tlusty at left wing but a part of that may have been that Stalberg benefited by playing with Bozak while Tlusty was stuck on a line with Allison. Stalberg makes Tlusty very expendable in a potential Kessel trade and would not look out of place on the Leafs this year. I do think that he will likely start the season with the Marlies, but become a fixture when the contracts of Ponikarovsky and Primeau expire and open up room on the depth chart.

Bozak’s game really impressed me and he does have the look of a top six forward of the future. He showed maturity, a very high skill level and surprising speed. The Leafs do have Grabovski, Stajan and Mitchell ahead of him on the depth chart, so he may also start the year with the Marlies since I don’t think they want to play him on the fourth line. Though a little behind those two, Hanson did not look out of place playing with them and I can see that being the top line on the Marlies as we start the year. The good news is that all three should be with the Leafs next year as the contracts of Stajan, Stempniak and Mayers also come off the books.

The Leafs took a cautious approach with Kadri and started him off with Orr and Primeau riding shotgun on his line. Kadri looked a bit out of place with that line but picked up his game when Kulemin and Tlusty joined him as wingers. Kadri seemed to relax at that point and showed the skill level that Leaf fans had hoped to see. He should see a few more exhibition games and will then return to London for his final year of junior hockey. Look for him to have a good junior world tournament this year, spend most of next year with the Marlies and then be ready to join the big team for the 2011/12 season.

On a lower expectation level I liked the controlled play of Colton Orr last night. He showed that he can play a solid game of hockey while providing the physical presence that you want on the fourth line. The Leafs were involved with five fights last night, but none involved Orr as he just focused on solid hockey and finishing his checks.

Jason Allison did nothing to show he deserved to be on the team. On a night where Bozak and Kadri impressed with speed and skill at center, Allison just reaffirmed his image as being too slow for today’s game. I think the Leafs want to treat him with respect but he will hopefully be out of camp after a couple more outings.

Beauchemin was solid on defense and it will be great to see him on the ice for 20 plus minutes a game once the season starts. It was disappointing not to see him play with Schenn last night, but hopefully we will see them together soon. Exelby came as advertised and provided grit when he was on the ice while Ian White seemed to fade into the background. I think White may well be on the outside, or on another team, when the season starts in two weeks.

To me it looks like Burke has the depth of youngsters to be able to start moving some of the incumbent forwards as trade opportunities arise. He has about five forwards that are penciled in as starters this year that will not be with the team next year. Burke will not want to see them leave for nothing, so look for trades even for draft picks as the year moves on.

Training camp will race by now with eight more exhibition games in the next twelve nights. Tonight its off to London to play the Flyers and we should see the debut of Komisarek, Kaberle, Schenn, Grabovski and Stajan along with juniors Slaney and Stefanovich.