Maple Leafs preseason roster revealed ahead of clash against Detroit Red Wings

The Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to whittle down their roster to the best group possible for 2024-2025 with just a few preseason games remaining to work things out. There are a lot of unanswered questions about who will fill those final spots as players of all experience levels compete to establish themselves as the impact player that success requires.

In general, it appears that the Maple Leafs' preseason roster, which was released for Thursday's game against Detroit, is heavily composed of prospects and rookies:

Several lower-tier players, including Steven Lorentz, David Kampf, Max Pacioretty, Timothy Liljegren, and Anthony Stolarz, are among the team's veterans. With names like Nikita Grebenkin, Alex Nylander, Roni Hirvonen, Alex Steeves, and even Nick Robertson, who earns himself another shot, it gets really young after that. Bobby McMann will also be brought to Toronto in order to increase his reps. With the exception of Liljegren, the defense is primarily made up of AHL players.

However, Marshall Rifai has earned a spot in the preseason and was observed working on the third defensive pair during practice, suggesting he could be a sneaky candidate to make the team.

Tonight, Toronto's premier backup, Artur Akhtyamov, and Anthony Stolarz will man the crease. Berube wants Akhtyamov to get some reps while also seeing what he can do with fellow Maple Leafs prospect Dennis Hildeby, who played the entire game in Toronto's preseason victory over Montreal.

Additionally, David Alter shared the powerplay units scheduled for tonight, which are definitely worth a look. A strong indication that Topi Niemala may be closer to a call-up than expected is his ability to skate with the first unit; in the interim, Cowan gets to play with Robertson and Pacioretty to see if he can develop more chemistry with them before the regular season.

Head coach Craig Berube is obviously high on the Maple Leafs 2023 first-round pick and wants to give Easton Cowan every chance to not only get reps against professional players but also prove himself already at the age of 19. Cowan will get his fifth preseason start. It will be interesting to watch if he can secure a roster spot with a strong showing.