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Toronto Maple Leafs: Opening Night Lineup Predictions

By Alex Hobson

TORONTO, ON - JULY 1: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, poses with his jersey in the dressing room, after he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JULY 1: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, poses with his jersey in the dressing room, after he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – FEBRUARY 14: John Tavares /

FIRST LINE: Zach Hyman – John Tavares – Mitch Marner

Let me make this clear right off the bat. I don’t think the Maple Leafs are going to have a consistent first line. Their top two lines are both elite and really, neither Tavares nor Matthews should be getting second line minutes, so I think they’re going to be used in a 1A/1B format instead of in first line/second fashion. But I’m just choosing to analyse this line first.

Mike Babcock said yesterday that he envisions Matthews paired with Nylander and Tavares paired with Marner. And if he sticks to that narrative, then that will make for an absolutely deadly pairing of Tavares and Marner.

Marner was supposedly featured in the promotional video that the Maple Leafs showed to Tavares in their meeting. He also reached out to Tavares personally to encourage him to sign in Toronto, and welcomed him to the team via Twitter. Marner spent the majority of his first two seasons alongside of  Tyler Bozak and still put up elite totals. Put him alongside of an elite scorer like Tavares, and the sky’s the limit for Marner’s potential. While Zach Hyman isn’t necessarily an offensive guru, he plays a Chris Kunitz-type of game and he’s slowly finding a solid offensive game. This will be a very, very good line for the Maple Leafs.

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