The bottom of the Toronto Maple Leafs roster is shaping up nicely.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have an embarrassment of riches on forward. In what be the best such group in the NHL, their top nine is: Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Nazem Kadri, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Andreas Johnsson, Kasperi Kapanen, Zack Hyman and Patrick Marleau.
That means that their fourth line starts with Connor Brown, former 20 goal scorer who could fit nicely on any team’s third line.
The Toronto Maple Leafs may not even be done adding, but as their roster stands, their fourth line is looking pretty good.
Fourth Line
At centre the Leafs have the option of going with Par Lindholm, Josh Jooris, Frederick Gauthier or Adam Brooks.
Gauthier is a last resort as his various stints in the NHL have been terrible. Jooris appears to be a at least a decent NHL fourth liner. Brooks is a nice prospect for the bottom of the lineup, and could crack the team out of camp in October, but the inside track seems to be going to Par Lindholm.
Lindholm scored nearly a point per game in the Swedish league this past season and he is 26. Many expect him to be able to step into the NHL and play a regular shift. It’s possible he could be an above average fourth line centre, but no one really knows at this point. Still, of the four options, three are solid so I think the Leafs are set here, even if they don’t decide to offer a chance to the likes of Matt Stajan or Nick Shore.
On the Wing, the Leafs have many options. There is the aforementioned Brown (and of course, lineups are not stable and Babcock won’t be shy about demoting any of the assumed top nine if they are not performing) and there is Tyler Ennis, Josh Jooris (if he doesn’t play C) Carl Grundstrom, Josh Leivo (who appears to be a very good NHL player who just hasn’t gotten his chance) or Trevor Moore.
Leivo-Jooris-Brown would potentially be one of the better fourth lines in the NHL, could even be a good third line, and the Toronto Maple Leafs also have Lindholm, Gauthier, Brooks, Ennis, Grundstrom, and Moore as additional options.
No matter what the team decides, no matter who performs in camp or if the team goes out and gets a couple more options, one thing is certain: the Leafs depth is ridiculous. They have nine players fighting for three spots, and that doesn’t even factor in some random Marlies player who will surprise everyone in training camp and jump the queue.
Its August and I’m talking about the Leafs fourth line and I am in no way bored. It’s going to be an exciting year.