Kampf is the center of attention, Nylander returns as Maple Leafs concludes preseason

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David Kampf will have his moment in the Maple Leafs spotlight on Saturday night.

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With Auston Matthews not quite ready to play in his recovery from offseason wrist surgery, Kampf will skate between Nick Ritchie and Mitch Marner in the Leafs preseason final at Scotiabank Arena against the Ottawa Senators.

“Playing against the best players on other teams, that’s a role that Kampf can take on at different times,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said after optional morning skating. “So putting it there made sense.

“One thing about Kampf, offensively he hasn’t produced much in his career and he’s looking to take a step there, and we’re looking to help him with that process. He has a good skill set. “

The Leafs’ lineup will look a lot like the one Keefe wears on Wednesday night when Toronto begins the 2021-22 regular season at home against the Montreal Canadiens.

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If Matthews returns for that game, and there are no injuries, one from Pierre Engvall or Wayne Simmonds is likely to be a healthy scratch.

On the blue line Saturday night, Travis Dermott will play on the right side in the third pair with Rasmus Sandin. Keefe likes the steps Timothy Liljegren has taken in the preseason, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Liljegren starts as the seventh defender.

“We have a lot of confidence in (connecting Liljegren when necessary),” Keefe said. “That is the only thing we expected to happen in camp, is that he can show us that he can play when we need him.

“From that sense, it has been a successful camp and for a young boy, that is what you are looking for, is to see progress. I’m not sure where it would have landed last season around this time, but it was probably nine or ten (in the depth chart). “

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Winger William Nylander has reunited with his teammates after spending the past few days skating with the Toronto Marlies while the rest of the club was at Gravenhurst. Nylander has been waiting for her second shot to go off.

And yes, Nylander likes to be used on penalty.

“Especially in some games where you get on the PK and you can move around instead of sitting on the bench for an extended period of time, that’s great,” Nylander said. “Trying to keep the disk off the grid as well, which is the most important thing.”

When did Nylander last kill the sorrows?

“Last year in Vancouver (in practice),” Nylander said, drawing laughter, “the day after I missed that meeting.”

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The Leafs were unsurprisingly excited to learn that the Ontario government has given MLSE the green light to have full capacity for games in the future.

“The noise and the feeling on the track when there are people cheering,lots of blue jerseys, we miss that atmosphere, “said defender Morgan Rielly. “It’s hard to pinpoint, but it’s the feeling when you are late to the game and hear the noise of the crowd, it really gives our team a boost. We hope to get that back and hope people are looking forward to coming back. There is much to be happy about. Good sign. Hopefully we can continue in that direction. “

Keefe said: “The most important thing is that it has been considered safe for us to have full capacity.”

The Leafs’ projected lineup for Saturday night:

Forward

LW-C-RW

Nick Ritchie-David Kampf-Mitch Marner

Ilya Mikheyev-John Tavares-William Nylander

Michael Bunting-Alex Kerfoot-Ondrej Kase

Pierre Engvall-Jason Spezza-Wayne Simmonds

Defending

Morgan Rielly-TJ Brodie

Jake Muzzin-Justin Holl

Rasmus Sandin-Travis Dermott

objective

Jack campbell

Petr mrazek

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