A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Guess who’s back. Back again…

1. You don’t have to be a math wizard like Brandon Pridham to calculate that the Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have (a) enough cap space or (b) enough roster spots to keep all the NHL forwards they’ve invited to training camp happy.

Or keep them all, period.

If your name is Nick Robertson, Steven Lorentz, Pontus Holmberg, Max Pacioretty, Ryan Reaves or Connor Dewar, you better arrive at medicals Wednesday ready to start battling for a role.

To say nothing of prospects and AHL hopefuls like Easton Cowan, Nikita Grebyonkin, Fraser Minten, Alex Steeves and Alex Nylander.

September is shaping up to bring the most competitive Leafs camp in years.

Something’s gotta give. Word to Jack Nicholson.

The hope from management and fans alike is that the most deserving of the lot not only make the cut but make an impact — and make up for the 21 goals Tyler Bertuzzi took out the door.

While the club’s core stars remain as comfortable as ever, GM Brad Treliving is offering no assurances to those on the fringes.

His plan? Gather a bunch of pins-and-needles aspirants — players who might not be ready for the NHL and others whose time in the show may be coming to an end — and give new coach Craig Berube as many options as possible. Then see how the pieces puzzle together. 

Who stays healthy? Who strikes chemistry with the core? Or who can yield a decent return in trade?

“All that stuff is going to sort itself out at camp,” Treliving told reporters Thursday. 

“What we’re trying to do is make our roster as deep as possible. I think there’s going to be lots of people pushing for jobs.”

Pacioretty, 35, appears to be blessed with a veteran’s head start coming off a full summer of pure training, not just ankle rehab. Yet top-six placement in autumn didn’t prevent gambles like Joe Thornton, Nick Ritchie and Jimmy Vesey from playing their way down Toronto’s lineup or out of the city in the past.

“My expectation is he’s going to be with us,” Treliving said. “But everyone has to earn their spot here.”

That includes Robertson, whose fate is the most unpredictable of the bunch. 

Yes, his resolved stalemate, team-friendly salary ($875,000) and age (23) make him more tradable, but this also should make him more valuable to Berube.

“It’s a fresh, clean slate with a new coach,” Treliving said. 

“New opportunity. I know the last couple days he’s been here, he’s excited, and I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

Just as we’re looking forward to seeing who survives camp and who becomes expendable.

2. St. Louis’s Robert Thomas has played the bulk of his pro career (and won a Stanley Cup) under the tutelage of Berube. 

Here’s what it’s like to play under the Leafs’ new head coach, according to Thomas’s 32 Thoughts appearance in Las Vegas:

“He’s always a player’s coach. As a player, he’s honest with you. He’ll listen to you. Tell you his honest opinion. There’s just a straight line with him. He sticks up for his players. He expects good things, and he believes in you. 

“There’s always a couple times he’d pull me in (to his office) and just say, ‘You’re not playing hard enough. You’re cheating a little bit. You’re not scoring and you’re cheating, so then you’re really not scoring.’”

3. In the five seasons Sheldon Keefe coached the Leafs, Toronto operated the second-best offence in the league.

No wonder, then, that Jack Hughes — whose New Jersey Devils rank 18th over that span — is so, uh, jacked up by the hiring of the new bench boss.

“Bringing Sheldon in is really exciting. I watch a lot of the Leafs, with Matthews and Nylander and Marner,” Hughes said during a recording of the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. 

“I kinda know what he does, how he loads lines up in the O-zone draws. He gets Matthews and those guys their looks. I’m excited to speak to him and hopefully develop a good relationship.”

Hughes has also received rave reviews of the Devils’ new No. 1 goaltender and former Canuck, Jacob Markstrom, from big brother Quinn. 

Jack said he texted Markstrom a note soon after the June 19 trade to welcome him to the club. In part, the message read: “A couple months late.”

4. Hey, who’s going to play goal for Team Canada at the Olympics? 

Or even this February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, for that matter?

GM Don Sweeney notes that two of the past three recent Stanley Cup–winning goalies are Canadian — Darcy Kuemper (2022) and Adin Hill (2023) — but says management will undergo an “extensive process” before deciding.

Edmonton native Stuart Skinner, surely, played himself into the debate with his playoff run. Neither Kuemper nor Hill were undisputed No. 1s on their respective NHL clubs last season.

If there is any position up for grabs in the first couple months of 2024-25, it’s for the honour of backstopping Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and the rest.

5. A guy like Matty Beniers is why the term “sophomore slump” still exists.

Much like his team, Beniers was a revelation in 2022-23, exploding for 24 goals and 57 points, winning the Calder Trophy and helping eliminate the reigning champion Colorado Avalanche.

Year 2 was a dramatic step back: 15 goals and 37 points, a dash-11 rating and no sustained presence in the playoff race.

So, it was at least a little curious to see a patient executive like Kraken GM Ron Francis bet big on a Beniers bounce-back, inking the 21-year-old centre to a seven-year extension at $7.15 million per year.

Not a bad payday coming off a 15-goal showing with no arbitration leverage.

“I have no concerns about Matty’s game long-term. He’ll be a big part of this organization for a lot of years moving forward,” Francis has assured.

For the 2005 Kraken to be more 2023 than 2024, the club needs Beniers to live up to his promise. 

Not to be overlooked is that Seattle could be in line to bring back the SuperSonics in the not-so-distant future.

Right now, the Kraken have the benefit of little competition when it comes to raking the city’s gate dollars, but the NHL club needs to be competitive.

Which plays into Francis’s free agency spending this summer on Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson.

The latter should eat up some of the hard defensive matchups down the middle, hopefully freeing young Beniers to reach new offensive heights.

“He’s definitely felt the pressure since he came into the organization, since Day 1,” teammate Vince Dunn said. 

“We were a struggling team, and he was kind of looked at as the saviour of our team. And I’m sure he’s been hearing that a lot and knowing that is going to have a prominent role ever since he’s been drafted.” 

Well, the pressure on Beniers won’t relent now that he’s locked up for $50 million guaranteed.

6. Vincent Trocheck’s Michigan-goal-scoring son Leo wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the infamous dogpile image of the Rangers celebrating Dad’s double-OT playoff winner against the Hurricanes. 

Trocheck has signed a bunch of photos captured from the moment and said he might have to get a matching T-shirt for himself, too.