TORONTO — Noah Gregor saw the stream of reporters and cameramen filing into the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ dressing room following morning skate for the first pre-season game at Scotiabank Arena and realized he was a long way from Silicon Valley.
“This would be a packed playoff game in San Jose,” Gregor commented to a couple of the intruders.
Although things didn’t unfold as the depth forward had planned with the Sharks this summer, Gregor’s chances of actually seeing playoff action spiked dramatically when he agreed to a tryout with the Maple Leafs at the top of the month.
Sure, Gregor is thus far without a contract, and fourth-line left wing is one of the only spots up for grabs in training camp, but all signs point to the 25-year-old securing a slot in the opening night lineup.
“He’s got some speed,” coach Sheldon Keefe said then corrected himself. “Not some. Lots of speed. He’s on the puck. He’s got tenacity. He has the ability to score and finish. Maybe he’s got a little more offensive ability than what he’s been able to show in the NHL thus far. He has a good foundation to his game.”
Gregor’s fleet feet have been on full display through 10 days of camp. His performance through two pre-season games has received positive reviews from both the coaching staff and his peers.
Further, the other contenders for Toronto’s 12th forward have issues.
Free-agent flyer Dylan Gambrell brings 233 games of NHL experience, but he had been taking camp reps exclusively with a Marlies line before getting sidelined with a concussion earlier this week.
And while NHL hopefuls Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg have shown flashes, both are waivers-exempt and could start their campaigns in the AHL with no salary-cap ramifications.
Perhaps most important: Gregor understands his role and fits it.
Kill penalties with pressure (potentially alongside fellow speedster Sam Lafferty). Inject energy. Force opposing defencemen to make mistakes on the forecheck. Make smart decisions. Finish shifts in the O-zone.
“There’s some space available. I think I can bring my speed and compete onto an already fast team. I think I’ll slot in pretty well,” Gregor told Sportsnet in an interview. “They lost quite a few penalty killers from last year. I think I can hopefully slot in there. Haven’t done a ton of killing in my career, but I think with my speed and my reads, I should be able to impact the team on the penalty kill.”
The Maple Leafs are making a concerted effort to play faster and more aggressive, both with the personnel they sought out and the special-teams strategies they are revealing in the pre-season.
Gregor noted a palpable difference between a Maple Leafs camp and a Sharks camp.
“It’s a lot more up-tempo, a lot more fast-paced. We’re going through drills only a couple reps each, then we’re moving on,” Gregor explained.
“Really up-pace camp. The skating test was something I had never done before, so that was something different for myself. Quite a bit harder than what I’m used to, but battled through it. So, it was good.”
While Keefe admits he didn’t know much about Gregor — who put up 51 points in limited usage through his 178 games in San Jose — Toronto’s new Western Conference management triumvirate of Brad Treliving, Shane Doan, and Derek Clancey had all kept an eye on the Beaumont, Alta., native.
Treliving had the option to bring in multiple PTOs but zeroed in on Gregor only.
As a surprise unrestricted free agent, Gregor, too, had other offers, but Toronto topped his list and he felt encouraged once Treliving and Keefe outlined their plans for him.
Though he’d never spent significant time in the city he’s now excited to explore, and the only familiar faces were fellow ex-Sharks Gambrell and Martin Jones, Gregor says he’d often make a point to catch Leafs games due to their entertainment value.
Still, following his career-best 10-goal performance for San Jose — not too shabby for a checker on a bad club — the inexpensive Gregor believed he’d performed well enough to earn another contract as a restricted free agent.
Yet GM Mike Grier didn’t hand him a qualifying offer.
“Pretty surprising, to be honest with you. I was under the assumption I was going to get qualified. All the talks after the season were fairly positive and didn’t really give me any indication that I wasn’t gonna get qualified. I didn’t really get noticed till the day before that qualifying day,” Gregor says.
“But that’s the organization’s decision. I can’t really do much about that. So, I had to move on quickly and start looking for other options.”
A long summer of waiting, till Treliving knocked in September, ensued. But anxiety loves company.
“A lot of guys were kind of in the same situation as me. A lot of PTOs this year. A lot of one-year contracts, stuff like that, with the cap situation a lot of teams are in, so it’s a different situation for myself,” Gregor says.
“But I’m happy to be here, and I think it’s a good spot.”
Now, he’s racing to secure one.
Gregor’s speed is the sum of nature plus nurture.
He was laced into skates at age three and was raised in “a very hockey-first house” on the family’s backyard rink.
Older brother Liam was a checking forward in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Their father, Colin, was a standout left wing in the Western Hockey League before skating three years pro in the ECHL.
“They’re both really strong skaters for the level of hockey they played at, so I think [my speed] comes from them,” Gregor said. “Then I did a lot of power skating growing up, just working at it.”
Today, Gregor is working towards a legitimate contract offer.
He arrived in town two weeks prior to camp’s official opening to begin building chemistry with fellow fourth-liners David Kämpf and Ryan Reaves.
Hopeful as Gregor is, he’s not taking employment for granted quite yet.
“I’m always confident. If I come in and play my game the way I believe I can play, I think that should hopefully — at the minimum — put the organization in a tough spot of making decisions,” Gregor said. “That’s all I can hope for is, make them take a long look at me.
“My expectation coming in is to make that opening-night roster, and that’s my goal.”
The eye test says he does it.
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