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Pre-game notes and observations: A focus on Nikita Grebenkin, Max Pacioretty, Easton Cowan

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The preseason is finally underway as the Toronto Maple Leafs square off against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday evening.

There will be greater emphasis on players who are fighting for a spot on their roster rather than the established stars. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving jokingly reassured reporters Wednesday that Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner’s spots are safe. Still, with that in mind, it appears both teams have taken slightly different approaches to this initial preseason contest.

Here are some quick pre-game notes, thoughts and observations ahead of Sunday’s game:

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Nikita Grebenkin, Max Pacioretty get to compete on the same line

While there’s a natural tendency to focus on Matthews, Marner and, by extension, Matthew Knies, John Tavares’ line featuring Max Pacioretty and Nikita Grebenkin is the most intriguing to watch tonight.

The Leafs Nation’s Jon Steitzer wrote about the case for Pacioretty’s inclusion in the Maple Leafs’ lineup, weighed against the allure of Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten (upon return from a high-ankle sprain) and the team’s next wave. Pacioretty’s veteran status does matter here, and it separates him from the rest of the forward hopefuls, who are engaged in a lively fight for the few opening night spots. Although Pacioretty is looking to regain his form from a series of Achilles injuries, he just needs to impress, and his ice time is a relative non-factor as a known quantity in the NHL, where it’s incumbent upon Grebenkin and Cowan to truly separate themselves from the competition.

If you view both ideas neutrally, that Pacioretty’s veteran experience should positively affect a team firmly in win-now mode, while Grebenkin’s potential and combination of size and skills are intriguing, then this is the line to watch tonight, with both players likely to be paired alongside John Tavares. At the very least, it’s a testament to Toronto’s riches at forward that a professional tryout of sorts can be staged alongside the team’s former captain, vying for Hall of Fame status.

Grebenkin and Pacioretty were seen getting reps on the team’s second power-play unit alongside Knies, Max Domi and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and it’ll be interesting to see how this dynamic comes into play, with Toronto running back its nominal starting unit. It’s an undoubtedly fun way to ignite an open, pre-season competition.

It’s difficult to ignore the starkly different approaches from both teams

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It’s hard to ignore the different approaches taken by both teams: while Toronto is still playing roster regulars in Matthews, Marner, Knies, Domi, and Jarnkrok, along with five of its opening night roster locks on the blue line (Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Timothy Liljegren), Ottawa is giving many of its headliners the night off.

Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson, among other players, were in Ottawa’s practice group that isn’t playing Sunday, so this truly is a game where the process matters far more than the result and where the results from camp hopefuls matter far more than what the established stars put together.

Former Maple Leaf Nikolay Kulemin returns for this version of the Battle of Ontario (if you can call it that during the preseason!), and Rielly expressed fond memories of the 38-year-old winger.

“Big, strong guy. His name came up recently, and I didn’t know he was there, but obviously, when he was here, he was a great player and just the ultimate 200-foot forward and worker and strong guy,” Rielly said via Nick Barden of The Hockey News.

All eyes on Easton Cowan

Easton Cowan remains arguably the most intriguing player in camp as the Maple Leafs’ top prospect with little left to prove at the major junior level. Brad Treliving expressed Wednesday that the best pathway for Cowan and Grebenkin to earn a roster spot was simply to play well, and it seems to be the same message that was relayed by Craig Berube.

“He’s just saying play my game, play simple, get pucks out, play north,” Cowan said via TSN’s Mark Masters. “Just play my game, and good things will come. So, I’m really excited for tonight.”

Cowan is projected to play with Jacob Quillan and Ryan Reaves on the fourth line, perhaps with the expectation to earn a more glamorous role throughout camp. If Cowan does make the team out of camp — a distinct possibility — it will be on the merit of his camp performance, with Fraser Minten as a clear, illustrative example, even if their games are different from each other.

Toronto’s top prospect lit the OHL aflame last season but he’s also been lauded for his tenacity on pucks and could eventually become an NHL-level penalty killer, so it’ll be incumbent upon him to do the small things well while trying to pack some secondary scoring punch for a Maple Leafs team that has no problem shooting the lights out.

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