Spencer Teixeira
Toronto Maple Leafs All Decade Team
JVR-Kadri-Kessel
Matthews-JT-Marner
Lupul-Grabo-Willy
Brown-Bozak-Hyman
Rielly-Barrie
Phaneuf-Muzzin
Gardiner-Franson
Andersen
Reimer
*Scratches*
Bernier, Kapanen, Kaberle
The top six consists of a near bulletproof setup, with Matthews and Kessel taking on the role of the Ovechkin-like sniper, with JT and JVR being the puck retrievers + net-front presence and Marner & Kadri being the main setup men or playmakers.
The third line allows for William Nylander and Joffrey Lupul to shine as a flashy offensive tandem with the criminally underrated Mikhail Grabovski does the dirty work.
The fourth line is certainly less flashy but still effective in a two-way sense. All three of Bozak, Brown, and Hyman can produce but together they would probably be more of a force on the PK side of things, with Bozak being the main scoring option on that line.
Now onto Defense. Rielly suits up alongside newcomer Tyson Barrie to create a spectacular offensive duo that would be hard to keep off the scoresheet.
Dion Phaneuf and Jake Muzzin join as a rather solid combo, with Phaneuf and Muzzin both providing offensive punch and physical defense for some fun, but outdated hockey.
The third pairing consists of everyone’s favorite Jake Gardiner and Cody Franson. Gardiner and Franson both know how to play a good game in the O-Zone but definitely struggle in the defensive aspects of the game. Sheltered minutes would only help this situation.
Finally, goaltending. Freddy Andersen didn’t take the starting spot when I did my original starting five back in September.
My thoughts have definitely changed. The Toronto Maple Leafs would’ve literally been awful without Freddy and frankly were at times despite his greatness.
The same goes for James Reimer, the Leafs hero for roughly five seasons, who kept them in every game he played, but he-and the team-still lost. A lot. Freddy takes the starting spot just due to the bias of winning.