Maple Leafs looking to add to their team depth

Maple Leafs hope to find a hidden gem among their bottom six hopefuls

Zach Aston- Reese doesn’t have a contract for the 2022- 23 National Hockey League season.

The 28- year- old forward intends to work his way on to the Maple Leafs’ payroll by the time training camp ends.

“The coaches and staff have made it clear there are spots available, so I’m just going to work my bag off and try to earn a spot,” Aston- Reese, in camp on a professional tryout, said Thursday following a strenuous first day of on- ice workouts at the Ford Performance Centre.

“There were a few options, but it came down to where is the best opportunity for me, and I think Toronto was a great place for that.”

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe has more than a handful of possibilities for his group of bottom- six forwards. And there will be a chance for some of those players to potentially make an impact higher in the lineup.

Third- line centre David Kampf will be key again in his role, but the other spots are fairly open. Keefe indicated there is no disadvantage for Aston- Reese, a defensively responsible veteran of 230 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks, in that he is competing without a contract.

“It’s the nature of what’s going on in the league,” Keefe said. “The last couple of years there are some guys that you expect to have jobs and have security and that’s not the case.

“It has worked out to our benefit. He’s a guy that we had interest in as free agency got going and then just kind of ran out of money.

“To have him here and in the mix is a good thing for us. He has come in with a really good attitude. As far as I’m concerned, the way ( GM) Kyle ( Dubas) has told me, is ( take the) approach that everybody here is an option for me and for our team.”

Calle Jarnkrok, meanwhile, skated in Mitch Marner’s usual spot on the right side with Auston Matthews and Michael Bunting, while Adam Gaudette was on the left side with captain John Tavares and Marner. Denis Malgin was on a line with William Nylander and Pontus Holmberg.

Those spots won’t necessarily be where Jarnkrok, Gaudette and Malgin line up once the regular season starts, but Keefe wants to give some of his potential depth players a good jump out of the gate.

“I don’t know if there’s a better way to come into a new team and feel a part of things,” Keefe said of Jarnkrok in particular. “He has the skill set to be able to play with Auston or John. He could play anywhere in our lineup.

“Gaudette is a guy that we want to give a good opportunity with good players. We think he can really score. We need some guys to come in and pop, if you will, not unlike the way Bunts did last year. We see Gaudette as a candidate to do that.”

In his first media availability in Toronto after he signed a four- year contract in July, Jarnkrok was pumped in the wake of his first official skate with the Leafs.

“I feel like they have something good going on here,” Jarnkrok said. “I wanted to be a part of it and that’s a big reason why I ended up here.

“I can bring a little bit of everything. Whatever they need from me, I’m ready to do that.”