Two pre-season standouts appear to have made the Leafs out of training camp

Gregor appears to have impressed Sheldon Keefe and the Leafs' management with his speed and tenaciousness in hunting down pucks during camp. His work ethic throughout training camp appears to have paid off as Gregor took to the ice for Leafs practice on Monday, wearing the traditional bottom-six white jersey, skating on the 4th line with David Kampf and Ryan Reaves.

Another intriguing situation potentially brewing in Toronto as well, as 19-year-old Fraser Minten was also spotted in a white jersey, indicating that he may, in fact, have made the opening night roster with his tremendous body of work throughout Leafs training camp. He skated on a line with Matthew Knies and Calle Jarnkrok on Monday.

The play of Gregor and Minten in the pre-season likely played a factor in the Leafs feeling comfortable enough to trade Sam Lafferty and his $1.15M cap hit to Vancouver yesterday for a fifth round pick. Gregor does all the things Lafferty does, but is three years younger and will come with a much cheaper cap hit. The trade also freed up enough room to give Minten an extended look in NHL action, whether it be a 9-game trial, or as a full-time NHLer following just his 2nd NHL training camp.

Gregor was a fourth round pick of San Jose in the 2016 draft and has played 178 games so far in his career registering 26 goals and 51 points, including a career-high 10 goals last season.

Minten was drafted with the 38th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. At the time of the draft, Kyle Dubas had revealed that the Leafs had Minten ranked among their top 15 players available in the draft. Wes Clark and the scouting staff seem to have done a tremendous job in identifying first round talent outside of the first round, as they had also selected Matthew Knies in the 2nd round just one year prior.

https://x.com/koshtorontosun/status/1711405063866826988?s=46