The Toronto Maple Leafs assigned Steven Lorentz and seven others to their AHL affiliate Friday night, trimming camp days before opening night.
The list also includes Brendan Brisson, Vinni Lettieri, Philippe Myers, Michael Pezzetta, Marshall Rifai, Henry Rybinski and Ryan Tverberg.
The veteran's timing is brutal. Lorentz scored in Wednesday's 4-2 split-squad win in Ottawa and finished plus-1 in 16:41.
He wasn't alone in producing that night. Tverberg had the winner, and Rybinski scored on the power play.
So what does a guy have to do? Rifai logged 22:32 and picked up an assist, and he's heading down too.
Lettieri set up a power-play goal and put four shots on net. Myers played 19:40 on the back end.
Michael Pezzetta heads down after a 12-minute night against Ottawa
Pezzetta suited up in the other game, the nasty 6-1 home win over the Senators. He took 12 penalty minutes in 12:31 of ice time.
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Brisson brought some edge of his own this week, dropping the gloves with Sammy Blais. He also finished with seven penalty minutes in Ottawa on Wednesday.
Sending Lorentz down stings, and it might be the wrong call. A veteran who scores in September shouldn't be riding the bus to the AHL.
Camp cuts feel like the last morning at summer camp. The cabins empty fast, and nobody asks the kids how they feel about it.
Jim Hiller, hired in June, now has a clearer picture of his opening-night group. The Maple Leafs went 2-1-1 this preseason.
Not everyone left standing is healthy. Nick Paul left Wednesday's game against Ottawa after 4:42 and did not return.
Matthew Knies is still being pushed, too, after Hiller said there's "more there for sure" following a one-shot night.
Toronto opens the regular season Tuesday at home against Montreal, then hosts Ottawa on October 3.
All eight of these names will be watching that opener from somewhere else. If the depth sputters early, Lorentz's Wednesday goal will look like a message somebody ignored.
Did the Maple Leafs make a mistake sending Steven Lorentz to the AHL?
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