10 Thoughts on Life and the Toronto Maple Leafs

Thought #3: What my ideal lineup would look like.

Just before we transition away from the roster conversation, let’s compare who would slot in where in my ideal lineup against what I actually believe will happen.

My ideal lineup:

Robertson – Matthews – Nylander

Hyman – Tavares – Marner

Kerfoot – Thornton – Mikheyev

Simmonds – Spezza – Barabanov

Rielly – Brodie

Muzzin – Holl

Lehtonen –Bogosian

Dermott

Andersen

Campbell

What I think will happen:

Hyman – Matthews – Nylander

Mikheyev – Tavares – Marner

Kerfoot – Thornton – Simmonds

Vesey – Spezza – Barabanov

Rielly – Brodie

Muzzin – Holl

Dermott – Lehtonen

Bogosian

Andersen

Campbell

In the end, it probably makes little sense to sit here debating who plays where at the end of October with still probably more than two months before the season starts again. And likewise, with such an uncertain season coming up, the Leafs lineup will most likely be changed 100 times before the playoffs begin again.

Thought #4: How are the Leafs loans doing in Europe.

Currently, Toronto has two key players on loans in the KHL, Mikko Lehtonen and Egor Korshkov, where both have been playing some of the best hockey of their careers. Lehtonen, as a defensemen, is back-boning Jokerit’s blueline, and sits 10th league-wide in points, with 8 goals and 16 points in 14 games.

Korshkov, a 6”4, 214 lbs winger, has really found his scoring touch in Russia. Leading Lokomotiv with 12 points in 16 games this season, Korshkov looks like he is finally panning out to be the big, power-forward, scoring winger Toronto would enjoy.

While Lehtonen will surely be able to make an impact on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster this season, Korshkov will probably have to really impress in camp if he wants to factor into the Leafs bottom six mix, but even then, the experience he is gaining currently leading his team and playing a huge factor in their success may prove too valuable to pry him away from Russia.