THIRD PAIRING: Travis Dermott – Nikita Zaitsev
Dermott came up midway through last season and immediately became a fan favourite and made a name for himself with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He never looked out of place both on the offensive and defensive side of the game, so he will undoubtedly secure a full time spot on the back end this year.
Zaitsev, meanwhile, will look to rebound after a bad 2017-18 campaign. The Leafs locked Zaitsev up for seven years last offseason so the hope is that Zaitsev suffered a sophomore slump and will be back to regular form this year.
STARTING GOALTENDER: Frederik Andersen
Water is wet. The sky is blue. Frederik Andersen will be the starting goalie. There you go, three blatantly obvious statements.
BACKUP GOALTENDER: Garret Sparks
This is where it gets tricky. The Maple Leafs have two AHL goalies who are both ready to make the jump to the NHL in Sparks and Calvin Pickard. Word is that Kyle Dubas is fielding calls on both Sparks and Pickard, so if he were to trade one of them it’s likely he would garner more interest from Pickard just because he has more NHL experience. But then again, it’s full of question. Maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs bring back Curtis McElhinney for another season. It’s really hard to say.
If you actually took time to read through each analysis of each line or pairing, then I applaud you. If not, then here’s the shortened version of my projected lineup.
Zach Hyman – John Tavares – Mitch Marner
Patrick Marleau – Auston Matthews – William Nylander
Andreas Johnsson – Nazem Kadri – Kasperi Kapanen
Josh Leivo – Par Lindholm – Connor Brown
Morgan Rielly – Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner – Connor Carrick
Travis Dermott – Nikita Zaitsev
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
Keep in mind the fact that this is an early prediction. The Toronto Maple Leafs could very well sign another depth defenseman or a fourth liner that will take a spot from Leivo or Lindholm. There’s no way of knowing what they’ll do, so this lineup is based on the Leafs’ current roster.
Next: Evaluating Every Players the Leafs Drafted in 2018
Thanks for reading.
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