Editor In Leaf
Fansided

Answering the Toronto Maple Leafs Top 5 Most Burning Lineup Questions

By Jordan Maresky

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 25: Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner (16), Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Andreas Johnsson (18) and Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) celebrate the goal by Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34). Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens during 3rd period play of NHL pre season action at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Leafs won 3-0. Toronto Star/Rick Madonik (Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 25: Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner (16), Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Andreas Johnsson (18) and Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) celebrate the goal by Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34). Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens during 3rd period play of NHL pre season action at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Leafs won 3-0. Toronto Star/Rick Madonik (Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Robertson #16 of the Peterborough Petes (Photo by Chris Tanouye/Getty Images) /

5. Top Six Left Wings

The top six forward group for Toronto is undoubtedly their biggest strength. Featuring Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Zach Hyman, this group of forwards is able to rival anyone else in the league. However, there is still one spot left remaining to be filled.

Three possible candidates immediately come to mind: Ilya Mikheyev, Nick Robertson, and Andreas Johnsson. Mikheyev played primarily alongside John Tavares this year as the teams 2LW, however, was bumped down to the bottom six during the teams’ final two games against Columbus.

Robertson started his NHL career on the third line but was able to move up in the lineup thanks to Mikheyev’s demotion. Johnsson was the Leafs 1LW during the 2018-19 season playing alongside Auston Matthews and put up a very respectable 20 goals and 43 points (stats; NHL.com).

Whether by trade or free agency, the Leafs are going to be upgrading their right-side defense. In any move they make, it is hard to see how it is possible to do so without moving out Johnsson. Some will say move Kerfoot, however, his added versatility in being able to play center or wing makes him more attractive to the Leafs, in addition to his performance during the play-ins.

Taking Johnsson out of the question, the top six starts to take shape. My prediction is Robertson gets the final spot and plays alongside Matthews in 2020-21. The potential of a Robertson-Matthews-Nylander first line is too much to not see in action, making Hyman-Tavares-Marner your second line – a trio that dominated in 2018-19, leading to Marner and Tavares’ career years.

Home/Analysis