Gregor chose Leafs over other PTOs, eyes roster spot
Published
Forward Noah Gregor hopes he will be on the opening night roster for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 25-year-old signed a professional tryout contract with the Maple Leafs on Sept. 6 after spending last season in San Jose, where he scored 10 goals with seven assists in 57 games. He was not qualified as a restricted free agent by the Sharks, sending him to the open market.
Gregor confirmed Tuesday morning on TSN 1050’s First Up that he received PTO offers from other teams around the league but chose the Maple Leafs.
“I just thought Toronto was going to be the best fit for me,” said Gregor. “I thought with the way I play, with an up-tempo game, I think I play with a lot of compete as well.
“Also it’s a bit of a different market for myself than I’m used to in San Jose so I was excited to come into a Canadian team. I’m Canadian as well so it should be fun if I get the chance to make that opening night roster to play in Canada again.”
Gregor reunites with two former Sharks teammates in Toronto as forward Dylan Gambrell, who signed a one-year, $775,000 deal on July 3 and goaltender Martin Jones, who inked a one-year deal in August, will also be at training camp. He has appeared 178 career NHL games, recording 26 goals and 51 points, all with San Jose.
With the Sharks missing the playoffs the last four seasons, the Beaumont, Alta., native is looking forward to playing for a contender.
“Being in San Jose the past four years, it’s not going to be the same as here,” said Gregor. “Obviously we weren’t in the playoffs in my time there. I think first off that was the biggest thing was just to get onto a winning team again.
“And then just some conversations I had with the organization, with [Brad] Treliving and [Sheldon] Keefe, I thought I had some positive talks with them and thought it would be a good spot for me.”
The Maple Leafs play their first game of the preseason on Sunday against the Ottawa Senators and will open their regular season on Oct. 11 against the Montreal Canadiens.