Stuart Percy didn’t make any bones about it on Friday night.

“I feel like I am ready to be an NHL player and contribute day in and day out,” the defenceman said following Toronto’s 6-4 pre-season loss against the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Centre.

“(Leafs coach Mike Babcock) preaches ‘Make every day count and get better every day’ and that’s what I am trying to do.”

The 22-year-old Percy has spent the majority of the past two seasons in the American Hockey League, though he did crack the Leafs roster coming out of training camp a year ago and played in nine games in the 2014-15 regular season.

If five of the spots on the Leafs blue line are spoken for by captain Dion Phaneuf, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Roman Polak and Stephane Robidas, it leaves two or three open. Battling for a spot are Percy, Martin Marincin, Petter Granberg, Scott Harrington, Matt Hunwick and Viktor Loov.

It’s hard to argue with Percy’s self-evaluation. He was a calm, poised performer with Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League when the Leafs picked him 25th overall in the 2011 NHL draft and he has continued on that path with the Toronto Marlies.

Against the Sabres, Percy’s patience was evident when he waited out a Sabres defender and beat goalie Robin Lehner to open the scoring. In the defensive zone Percy, on a nightly basis, does not panic.

“He is an intelligent player,” Babcock said. “We have eight jobs or seven (on the blue line). You have to be mentally strong and you have to keep pushing forward each day. When it goes good, you put it in the bank and it collects interest and you go again.

“When it goes bad, the sun gets up in the morning and you go again. You have to take a job. We are in the process of trying to figure out who is going to be on the team. He is like everyone else that way.”

Whether Percy is on the opening-night roster is to be determined. But he’s not far off from being an NHL regular. It’s a matter of when, not if.

FROM THE HASH MARKS

Buffalo scored the winner on a power play with just under five minutes remaining in the third period. Defenceman Mark Pysyk beat goalie Jonathan Bernier on the glove side with a slapshot. David Legwand scored into an empty net with 5.1 seconds left ... Babcock had this to say in the morning regarding the men who will wear letters on the front of their sweaters this season: “I just know Dion’s the captain, that’s all I know.” Against the Sabres, the alternates were Daniel Winnik and Joffrey Lupul. Winnik’s work ethic was missed after the Leafs traded him to Pittsburgh last season. He would be a good choice to wear the letter full-time ... Mitch Marner hasn’t demonstrated consistently in two pre-season games he is ready for the full-bore NHL, and that’s fine. Let him develop at properly in London with the Ontario Hockey League’s Knights. A challenge is keeping control of the puck when he is duelling against everyday NHL defencemen, and given his small stature, that won’t change soon.

“I did not feel too out of pace out there,” Marner said of his second game. “I felt like speed was consistent, felt some plays I could have been a lot faster, but that is just the adjustment to NHL from the OHL.” ... The Leafs had a 2-1 lead after the first period on goals by Percy and Winnik, with Marcus Foligno scoring on a power play in the final minute. Matt Frattin, on a great pass from Mark Arcobello, increased the Leafs lead to 3-1 early in the second. The Sabres led 4-3 after 40 minutes, getting consecutive goals from Brian Gionta, Nicolas Deslauriers and Ryan O’Reilly. Nazem Kadri tied the game early in the third ... How will the Leafs be different this season? Kadri: “We’re not going to lose because of lack of effort. It’s something that is going to change.”

POINT SHOTS

Babcock said it was the coaching staff and the Leafs’ “big dogs,” as he called them, on the hook for the loss. “It’s one thing to come to the rink and the other team beats you,” Babcock said. “It’s another thing to get in your own way. Everyone has been real optimistic and a little reality therapy sets in. When you don’t take care of the puck you don’t win very often. We’re going to have to do a way better job with the puck than we did tonight. We’re a work in progress, we know that.” ... Marner and Rielly manning the points together on the power play — how long will it be before we start seeing that every day in Toronto? One year? Two? Three? ... Buffalo lost out on the right to draft Connor McDavid, but when Jack Eichel is the next prospect up, it wasn’t exactly a crippling blow to not get McDavid. Eichel, who did not play on Friday, won’t have to bring the Sabres out of the NHL doldrums by himself. Sam Reinhart is among the smartest teenagers we’ve seen. A key member of the Canadian junior team the past two winters, Reinhart had three assists on Friday, his ability to make plays not lost on anyone.