Darren Calabrese
Leafs sent out a release at 1:30 this afternoon announcing the big round of cuts we were expecting. Here's who they listed as gone:
Released from tryout: Wayne Primeau
Sent back to junior: Jesse Blacker (Owen Sound), Sam Carrick (Brampton), Andrew Crescenzi (Kitchener) and Brad Ross (Portland)
Reassigned to the Marlies: Jussi Rynnas, Ben Scrivens, Keith Aulie, Mike Brennan, Simon Gysbers, Korbinian Holzer, Juraj Mikus, Jerry D'Amigo, Brayden Irwin, Marcel Mueller, Greg Scott, Robert Slaney
The team also announced it was down to a 30-man roster, even though the 17 cuts only takes them to 34 players. I believe that's because four players are going through waivers, but I'll update when I have confirmation on that.
( 6 p.m. UPDATE: Joey Crabb, Ryan Hamilton, Alex Foster and Darryl Boyce will be on waivers Monday. If unclaimed, they will also go to the Marlies.)
There aren't a ton of surprises in here, although Ron Wilson did say at the start of camp he was expecting D'Amigo and Mueller to have an outside shot at making the roster, and they're obviously going home a little bit earlier than that. These cuts allow Marlies camp to get underway, and they've got their only two preseason games next weekend on Friday and Saturday.
They spare Kadri meanwhile, who will get a few more preseason games to show Wilson he should make the team. That appears unlikely at the moment, but this team is weak at centre.
Here's how the Leafs' 30-man roster looks, and I'll update when I know the four who are gone:
Forwards
Phil Kessel - Tyler Bozak - Kris Versteeg Clarke MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin Fredrik Sjostrom - John Mitchell - Colby Armstrong Colton Orr - Christian Hanson - Mike Brown
Others: Nazem Kadri, Luca Caputi, Tim Brent, Jay Rosehill, Mike Zigomanis
Defence
Dion Phaneuf - François Beauchemin Mike Komisarek - Tomas Kaberle Luke Schenn - Carl Gunnarsson
Others: Brett Lebda, Danny Richmond, Jeff Finger, Matt Lashoff
Goalies
J-S Giguere Jonas Gustavsson James Reimer