TORONTO -- Two days removed from opening night, the Toronto Maple Leafs are primed to start the season with as many as six NHL rookies on the roster.

A 30th place finish, an NHL draft lottery win and an Auston Matthews selection later, the new-look Leafs will make their debut Wednesday in Ottawa. As of Monday afternoon, the roster sits at 25; they’ll have to get to 23 by Tuesday at 5 p.m. Assuming there are no major surprises, Matthews will join Mitch Marner, Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, William Nylander and Nikita Zaitsev in the group of NHL rookies the organization hopes will blossom for years to come.

“To me, there’s no difference right now, whether you’re a first-round pick or a second-round pick, or a seventh-round pick; if you’re playing here in the NHL, you’re all looked upon in the same light,” said general manager Lou Lamoriello. “And then it’s up to them to grab this opportunity, which could never come again where there are openings as there are. Intentionally it was done this way, with the process of last year.”

Having this many kids around is uncharted territory for Lamoriello and head coach Mike Babcock.

“It’s exciting to have young players with the ability these players have and to see exactly where they’re at. We’ll find out pretty quickly,” Lamoriello said. “[They’re] extremely positive, they fit right in, they’ve handled every situation that has been given to them. The best part about it is they’ll get better and better every day.”

Marner has already proven that in training camp. Questions about his size and NHL-readiness dominated the conversation early. Whether he would stick around Toronto longer than the first nine games and burn a year on his entry-level contract was hotly debated. But as Marner racked up positive plays on the ice, his return to the OHL’s London Knights began looking less and less likely. He ultimately skated in six of the team’s eight preseason contests, grabbing four assists. It all amounted to enough of an audition for the Maple Leafs.

“He’s not on a tryout,” Lamoriello said of Marner. “At this point, he’s made the team. What we’ve seen of him, not only offensively but defensively, he’s done very well. We’re not thinking of anything other than how he can help us right now. He’s extremely mature and I’ve been extremely impressed with him from seeing him in training camp last year and this year.”

Babcock said Marner had surprised him with how good he’s been on the defensive side, which is an element of his game the 19-year-old forward had been striving to improve after his 139-point season in London. Marner has been slotted next to Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk in two preseason games and in practice, balancing his youthful exuberance with a veteran presence.

 “We have a young group here, that’s for sure,” Marner said. “I think everyone is learning a lot these past couple weeks with [Babcock] here and we’re getting the systems down pretty quick. This could be a group that’s together for a long time. It’s the beginning of something good.”

In a perfect world, Babcock would like to see his team get off to a good start this season and be in the playoff hunt after 20 games. But getting better every day and every game is the mantra, not that it will always be easy. Playing teams with too much youth can go awry quickly. In the preseason, Toronto took its lumps against an NHL lineup in Montreal, and struggled mightily at times against one in Detroit. The path from rebuild to contender was never going to be easy, but the Maple Leafs are on it now for better or worse.

“One of the challenges is patience. There will be mistakes,” Lamoriello said. “They won’t be mistakes for not trying, it’ll just be the experience that it takes in terms of how quick things happen.”

“Business as usual” for Brooks Laich after clearing waivers

When four Maple Leafs were placed on waivers Sunday afternoon, there was one notable name in the group – veteran forward Brooks Laich. While Andrew Campbell, Byron Froese and Colin Greening all appeared American Hockey League-bound upon clearing (which they all did on Monday and each was subsequently reassigned to the Toronto Marlies), the inclusion of Laich was unexpected.

While he didn’t stand out in training camp and the preseason, Laich is by all accounts the prototypical veteran Toronto wants as it gets ready to ice such a youthful team. He’s good in the room, he’s good with the media and he has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share from his seasons with the Washington Capitals.

At 33 years old, and carrying a $4.5 million cap hit, no other team was going to poach Laich on waivers. So when he was back on the ice for practice on Monday, even before officially clearing at noon, it was just another day at the office.

“I’m excited to be a Maple Leaf, I’m excited for Wednesday,” Laich said. “Felt great in practice today. It’s business as usual. Sometimes you have to separate the personal from the business. Yesterday was yesterday."

Lamoriello said Monday Toronto is still dealing with some lingering injuries, and before the final roster is set on Tuesday certain players will need to assessed before Wednesday’s opener. Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk have all been banged up, and Josh Leivo had dealt with an injury in camp as well.

But for now, just as he was a day ago, Laich will be expected to carry on in his role with the Maple Leafs.

 “I don’t worry about that. He’s Toronto’s property,” Babcock said. “The process we went through was so we could react the way we want to react. Brooks is a real good man and has a chance to be a big part of our team.”