TORONTO – Entering the final weekend of the Toronto Maple Leafs' preseason, bubble players vying for precious few roster spots are running out of time to make an impression.

With Toronto's focus on the future, not the past, decisions can come down to a single question: What have you done for us lately?

“As our team is getting better, your lot in life last year may not be the same this year,” head coach Mike Babcock said Thursday. “You might look like you were going to be a Leaf last year and then someone came in here and that’s the problem with sport – the truth today isn’t the truth tomorrow. Someone is better and they take your job. It’s just that simple.”

Josh Leivo was among the parade of players from the American Hockey League who auditioned in short bursts with the Maple Leafs last season. In 12 NHL games he recorded five goals, earning a one-way, two-year contract worth $1.2 million as a restricted free agent this summer.

Given the momentum of last season, it’s surprising Leivo has played in just one exhibition game so far, a 1-0 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Leivo said Thursday he’s been dealing with an injury at training camp.

“I’ve been playing well I think [but] I had a little setback. We’re moving forward now,” he said. “It was a little maintenance [issue]. It’s feeling good now, so we’re all good.”

Despite the ailment, Leivo has been a regular in training camp practices since they began in mid-September. With Toronto having the confidence to give him a one-way contract, the left winger was expected to challenge hard for a roster spot. Thus far, that hasn’t happened.

“I know this [final] weekend is going to count,” Leivo said. “I just have to play a solid two-way game that I felt that I learned in the [AHL] playoffs last year. Just have to continue with that and move forward and keep playing the way I was playing.”

Babcock was blunt in assessing Leivo’s performance at a competitive camp stacked with talented young forwards.

“[Leivo has made] no impression. He hasn’t been here,” Babcock said of Leivo. “He’s been here, but, when you’re injured, I always say, whose fault is it? Is it my fault or it their fault? And maybe it’s no one’s fault, but you can’t make an impression when you’re injured.”

Nikita Soshnikov knows that all too well. Like Leivo, Soshnikov did well with his NHL opportunity last season, grabbing two goals and three assists in 11 games. He participated in his first training camp practice on Thursday, after weeks of one-on-one skating work and treatment for a hamstring imbalance that Babcock said was causing him to become injured too frequently.

Soshnikov said he was hurt in the last Marlies game of the season, trained for two months in the summer, and then an MRI revealed a further problem. The team’s decision to shut him down and address the issue head-on means Soshnikov will start his season in the AHL.

“I feel pretty good. Still some work to do,” he said. “It’s kind of sad when you see a lot of guys practising and fighting for a spot and you can’t do anything. It’s not up to me. I think it’s maybe starting slow and I’ll prove myself again with the Marlies.”

Babcock also revealed Thursday that centre Tyler Bozak, who was supposed to travel to Saskatchewan for Tuesday’s preseason game but ultimately did not, is dealing with an undisclosed injury. That means Auston Matthews will be paired with Mitch Marner on right wing for Thursday’s preseason game against Montreal, while William Nylander moves back to centre.

Still carrying a 48-man roster, likely through Saturday’s game at Detroit, the Maple Leafs best possible lineup is very much a work in progress.

“Managers and coaches – we’re allowed to make mistakes, and have the wrong guys on the team to start the season, and then 15 games in we’re allowed to have the right guys,” Babcock said. “That’s just the way it is. If you don’t get what you want, don’t be discouraged, or be discouraged and mad for a day, but get on with your life and show us that we’re wrong.

“I’m not sure we’re going to make all the right decisions here in the next three days, but we’re going to do what we think is right and over a period of time everyone finds their level water mark and the right people end up on the team.”