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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who practised at the Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday. 

After an eight-year run in Colorado, Tyson Barrie is still finding his footing in Toronto. 

"There's so much that changes," he said. "You get used to one place for so long and it just kind of abruptly ends."

The biggest adjustment so far? 

"I'm pretty loud in the room and like to kind of chirp guys and have some laughs and I think the first two weeks I've been a little bit more quiet than maybe I would be," Barrie said, "just trying to feel out some personalities and stuff so I'm going to have to start giving it to guys here soon."

Barrie has a lot to say and not just to his new teammates. The Victoria, B.C., native is eager to send a message to the entire NHL.

"I have a lot left in me and maybe that just starts with being relied upon to play against other team's top lines and stuff like that," the 28-year-old defenceman said. "It will be a fun year for me to see how good I can get."

"He's a committed guy," said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. "He's got a real good swagger about him, he's confident in his abilities, he's got good abilities."

The Leafs overhauled their blueline in the off-season, with Barrie the biggest addition. He and centre Alexander Kerfoot were acquired in a blockbuster deal with the Avalanche, which saw centre Nazem Kadri and defenceman Calle Rosen heading to Denver. 

Expectations are high for Barrie and early in training camp Babcock said the blueliner was only scratching the surface of what he can accomplish in the NHL. 

"We can help him defend more so that he has the puck way more often," Babcock explained. 
"Sometimes you think about defence as though, ‘It's going to take away from my offensive game.’ No, it's just going to improve his offensive game, because he won't be playing defence."

Barrie has been paired with Jake Muzzin in training camp. They also joined forces at the 2015 World Championship helping Canada win the gold medal. 

"We're getting back in the groove of things," Barrie said. "We felt a lot better last game. I feel lucky I get to play with him. He's a very veteran presence and he talks a lot and kind of makes it easy on me."

They complement each other well, with Muzzin bringing a physical edge that was on display Saturday in Buffalo when he dumped Victor Olofsson into the Toronto bench. 

"That was great," Barrie said with a grin. "He got him halfway and then gave him two shoves. He wanted him in there for sure … He's so solid, but he's not afraid to jump in or make a play. He makes great first passes so it just kind of elevates my game."

With the reliable Muzzin keeping opposing skilled players on their toes, Barrie can serve as a fourth forward in the attack. 

"He picks when he gets up in the play pretty well," noted Auston Matthews. "As forwards you like to be out there with D that can do that and contribute and get up in the play with you."

"He can use his feet to get out of a lot of pressure," observed John Tavares, "and be able to get up the ice. So, you know when he's out there you got an extra man on the attack for sure that can help us offensively."

You can feel the excitement in Barrie's voice when he talks about working with Toronto's deep forward group. 

"It's amazing," he said. "We've been in split groups for the last two weeks and we haven’t really gotten everybody together and now we’re starting to practise and get the feel and, as a defenceman, trying to defend these guys you don’t really get a break in practice it’s just one guy after another coming."​

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With Toronto's NHL regulars all skating together this week we have gotten our first look at the two full power-play units. Here's how they lined up on Tuesday (PP points last season): 

Morgan Rielly (21)
Mitch Marner (21) - Tavares (19) - Matthews (20)
Andreas Johnsson (6)

Barrie (25)
Jason Spezza (12) - Kerfoot (16) - William Nylander (6)
Kasperi Kapanen (3)

Over the last two seasons, no defenceman has played more on the power play than Barrie (3:54 per game) as the Avalanche leaned heavily on its top unit. So, what does Barrie think about playing on the second unit in Toronto? ​

"Coming in here they've got, obviously, a great power play and a guy in Mo, who's an outstanding defenceman and can run a power play as good as anybody so it will be a little different situation. But our goal here is to win and whoever gives us the best chance to do that I think we have to go with," Barrie said. "We got a lot of skill on our unit and we'll certainly be snapping it around too. We'll be doing our part."

The Leafs finished eighth in power-play efficiency last season while Barrie's Avalanche were seventh. 

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Wednesday's game against the Montreal Canadiens will be the first time the power-play units play together. New assistant coach Paul McFarland has been installing a different system with Marner and Matthews switching to their off wings.

"Trying to be more comfortable with the passing," said Marner. "Trying to figure out what the best lane is and also trying to work on my one timer. You know, that’s something I’m not very used to doing so something I’m trying to get used to and trying to get better at, but we’ll take it game by game and see how it goes."

Both Matthews and Marner were working on one timers after practice on Tuesday. Can Marner model his one timer after anyone? 

"No," he said with a chuckle, "I can't model it after Stammer, Kuch or Ovi so, I mean, I don’t know, I'm just trying to do what I do and see what happens with it."

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Dealing with an undisclosed issue throughout camp, veteran goalie Michal Neuvirth was released from his pro tryout on Tuesday. 

"To be honest with you, I wasn't involved in that and don't know much about it," said Babcock. "I just know he's not here today."

The move leaves Michael Hutchinson as the last man standing in the battle to be the backup to Frederik Andersen on opening night although there's always the potential for a waiver wire pick-up. 

"Hutch is a good kid," said Babcock. "Hutch works real hard. I thought Hutch played real well last night. The biggest thing is you've just got to work together and make sure we have a good, stable backup so that we are in a position where we can start him at any time and not worry about it and know you have an opportunity to win. That is the biggest challenge for you: You’ve got to win games. The division is going to be real tight. Teams have gotten better. We know there is a challenge there, so we need good goaltending."

So, is Babcock comfortable with Hutchinson moving forward? 

"That’s what we’re hoping for and we are betting on that. Obviously, our goalie people have done a lot of work to try to set us up to make the right decisions there."

Hutchinson stopped all 38 shots faced in Monday’s win in Montreal. If Babcock sticks with his routine of starting the backup on the second half of back-to-back sets, then Toronto’s No. 2 will make his debut this year on the first Saturday night of the season against the Canadiens. Toronto will also play in Montreal on the second half of a back-to-back set later in October. 

Last season, the Leafs only played on consecutive nights once in the first month of the season, but this year that will happen four times ensuring the subject of Toronto's goalie depth will be in the spotlight right away. 

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Lines at Tuesday's practice: 

Forwards
Johnsson - Matthews - Nylander
Kapanen - Tavares - Marner
Mikheyev - Kerfoot - Moore
Timashov - Spezza - Gauthier

Defencemen
Rielly - Ceci
Muzzin - Barrie
Sandin - Marincin

Goaltenders
Andersen
Kaskisuo

Six-on-five drills at Tuesday's practice:

Rielly-Barrie
Matthews-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson

Muzzin-Sandin
Spezza-Tavares-Nylander 
Kapanen