Final exams

There's a couple of ways you could look at this weekend's home-and-home series against the Detroit Red Wings.

The most obvious thing is, it's really just a couple of exhibition games that will have no bearing whatsoever on how the Maple Leafs do this season. And really, that's the bottom line. Whether or not the Leafs win both, lose the pair or split the mini-series -- it won't get them any closer to making the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons.

Then again, a strong showing against one of the NHL's model franchises could go a long way in getting this particular group of Maple Leafs to believe in themselves.

So far through the pre-season, the Leafs have played decently in constructing a 3-3 record as the coaching staff has moved players in and out of the lineup trying to figure out which 20 will suit up when the regular season opens on Oct. 6.

Newcomer Cody Franson can't wait to play against the Red Wings. Now that he's in the Eastern Conference he won't see the Wings as often as he did as a member of the Western Conference's Nashville Predators but he believes playing Detroit can be a positive experience for a team.

"We always looked forward to playing against Detroit," Franson said. "The Red Wings are a great franchise and a contender every year and you get an idea of where your team is at when you play them. I'm looking forward to playing them. Not only can you gauge what you things you are doing well, but you also find out when you play against Detroit what parts of your game you still need to work on."

Defenceman Carl Gunnarsson added, "It will be a really good test for us. The one thing you know about the Red Wings is, they are always prepared to play. They don't take any nights off. We will have to be at our best to beat them. We'll have a pretty good idea of where we are as a team after these two games."

Where the Leafs are concerned, there is plenty to work on before they become a legitimate playoff contender. A top priority for the Leafs this season is improved special teams and that, obviously, remains a work in progress. Until Matthew Lombardi is cleared to play, we probably won't know exactly how good the Leafs will be when killing penalties. Through the exhibition schedule Toronto's penalty kill is operating at a 76 per cent success rate -- ranking 23rd overall. Lombardi, one of the fastest skaters in the NHL with 19 career shorthanded goals on his resume, appears to be getting close to coming back from a concussion that limited him to just two games with Nashville last season.

The power play, with its rotating cast of participants, is 3-for-28 in pre-season, clicking at a 10.7 per cent success rate (27th overall). The hope is new No. 1 centre Tim Connolly and defenceman John-Michael Liles will give the power play a boost. Both are creative and have a history of success playing with the man advantage. Connolly, however, crashed into the boards during practice on Monday and has not been seen since.

A couple of decent showings against the Red Wings, Friday in Detroit and Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre, would send the Maple Leafs into the regular season on a high note.

"Playing Detroit is always a measuring stick for where you are at as a team," captain Dion Phaneuf said. "Obviously it will depend on which players they dress for the two games, but you'd think they'll probably ice what is close to being their team for the regular season. We want to have two good games against the Red Wings working on our systems, our power play and our penalty kill. You can say they are only exhibition games, but at the same time as we work every day in practice on things, it gives us a good idea of where we stand."

You can say they are only exhibition games indeed. And that is exactly what goaltender James Reimer, who believes he'll play once against the Red Wings this weekend, did.

"I understand that we can takes things from these games, but at the end of the day winning them or losing them will in no way affect our ability to make the playoffs this season," Reimer said. "So, yes, to me they are just exhibition games."

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.