Toronto Maple Leafs: Potential Opening Night Roster

Rumours have been swirling around the Toronto Maple Leafs lately that Auston Matthews no longer wants to be on a line with Kasperi Kapanen or Zach Hyman.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are forming a contender once again. But, could Auston Matthews be thinking more about himself rather than the team? If the reports are true about Matthews wanting to land on a different line than Hyman and Kapanen, it would certainly mean some reshuffling would need to happen among the Leafs’ forward corps.

Players can have preferences of who they can play with but, at the end of the day, the coach decides the lineup. I mean, Matthews has not earned the right yet to be a player/coach. (Maybe after the Leafs win the cup).

The Leafs have many depth players who can slot into any number of roles on their roster, but only a select few possess the skill and tenacity to play on the top two lines.

Potential Opening Night Roster

Here is a breakdown of a potential opening night roster. This is not the final roster by any means, so no need to start huffing and puffing:

Forwards:

Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander

Moore-Tavares-Marner

Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Kapanen

Agostino-Spezza-Petan

Defence:

Rielly-Ceci

Muzzin-Barrie

Marincin-Holl

Goalies:

Andersen

Hutchinson

Breakdown: Forwards

This is the team that I believe that Babcock will ice on opening night. However, once Travis Dermott and Hyman return from injury, there will be movement within the lines.

Babcock has a plethora of players to pick from, so he will certainly go with the ones he feels most comfortable with.

I think the first line of Johnsson, Matthews, Nylander is a lock. Johnsson had success on the Matthews line this past season, and the same goes for Nylander the season one before. Matthews wants to play with a playmaking winger like Nylander, unlike Kapanen, who is more of a shoot first winger.

As for the 2nd line, the only change from last season would be at the LW position, which I think will be given to Trevor Moore. He possesses the same traits as Hyman and is also more of a scoring threat. Putting Moore on a line with John Tavares and Mitch Marner would be great to watch flying down the ice.

However, this is only possible if Marner signs a contract.

Now, this is where things get interesting. Kapanen and newly-acquired Alex Kerfoot should be the C and RW, unless Kerfoot is placed at LW on the second line. As for the LW on the 3rd line, Ilya Mikheyev has a great opportunity to break into the team with his style of play. You can slot in many players here, but Babcock will probably use him because he is tall and because he can strip pucks effectively while chipping in offensively with his skill.

For the 4th line, Spezza will slot down the middle, but that is where the certainty ends. You can get a hat and draw names because the Leafs have so much depth on the wings. However, I believe Babcock will go with the experience of Kenny Agostino and the familiarity of Nic Petan.

This line has the potential to be one of the better 4th lines in the league with all the pieces that can be swapped in and out.

Breakdown: Defence

There is not much to say about Rielly other than he should be getting nominations for the Norris trophy. His partner in crime, while controversial, should be Cody Ceci. Now, although Ceci looked awful with Ottawa he was, in fact, playing for one of the worst run organizations in the entire NHL. If Babcock can just get him to stay at home and limit mistakes, this could work out.

Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Another hat draw here. I believe that Babcock will once again go with size and experience rather than the uncertainty of some of the prospects. Ramus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren should not be thrown into the ring until they are ready, but who knows whether one may surprise us at training camp.

Breakdown: Goalies

Not much to be said here.

Freddy will be the starter. But, a reliable backup will be needed to give him more rest, and that certainly won’t be Garret Sparks. Michael Hutchinson, although in a brief stint, showed some signs that he can be a reliable backup in times when Freddy needs a break.

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