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Toronto Maple Leafs Can Roll Out 3 Insane Lineups Now

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 6: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs heads back to the bench after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 6, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 5-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 6: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs heads back to the bench after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 6, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 5-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs made four significant trades over the past week that are going to be incredibly important to the depth of this roster.

Not only did the Toronto Maple Leafs add to this roster, but they didn’t lose anything while doing it. The team traded Alexander Barabanov, but he was clearly the 13th or 14th best forward on this team at this point, so he was easily replaceable.

Over the past week, the Leafs added two forwards, one defenseman and one goaltender. The most significant move was the acquisition of Nick Foligno, but all four of the additions are legit NHLers. As a result, the depth of this roster is far more deeper, than it was prior to the NHL Trade Deadline.

Now that the team has added Ben Hutton, David Rittich, Nick Foligno and Riley Nash, the line combinations and depth chart is going to look at a lot different.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were already the best team in the North Division, despite playing their back-up goalies for most of the season and having some depth scoring issues, but the addition of Foligno, alone, makes this roster so much better.

Toronto Maple Leafs Can Get Very Creative With Their Lineup

Let’s take a look at a few different line combinations and how the roster could look come playoff time, assuming that everyone is healthy.

Balanced Line-Up

  • Forwards:
    • First Line: Zach Hyman-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
    • Second Line: Alex Galchenyuk-John Tavares-William Nylander
    • Third Line: Nick Foligno-Alex Kerfoot-Jason Spezza
    • Fourth Line: Ilya Mikheyev-Riley Nash-Wayne Simmonds
    • Out: Joe Thornton, Nick Robertson, Pierre Engvall
  • Defense: 
    • First Pairing: Morgan Rielly-T.J. Brodie
    • Second Pairing: Jake Muzzin-Justin Holl
    • Third Pairing: Travis Dermott-Zach Bogosian
    • Out: Ben Hutton, Rasmus Sandin
  • Goaltending: 
    • Starter: Jack Campbell
    • Back-up: Freddie Andersen/David Rittich

Based on how Joe Thornton has played lately, I’m not sure if it would be in the best interest of the Leafs to play him every night. He’d be a great rotation player coming in-and-out for Pierre Engvall, but he’s made a few mistakes lately and is looking his age.

Galchenyuk has proved that he can handle a top-six role, so putting Foligno on the third line gives Toronto another balanced smart line, followed by a fast, hard-hitting, grinding fourth-line.

High-End Skill Lineup

  • Forwards: 
    • First Line: John Tavares-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
    • Second Line: Nick Robertson-Nick Foligno-William Nylander
    • Third Line: Zach Hyman-Alex Kerfoot-Jason Spezza
    • Fourth Line: Alex Galchenyuk-Joe Thornton-Wayne Simmonds
    • Out: Ilya Mikheyev, Riley Nash, Pierre Engvall
  • Defense:
    • First Pairing: Morgan Rielly-T.J. Brodie
    • Second Pairing: Jake Muzzin-Justin Holl
    • Third Pairing: Travis Dermott-Zach Bogosian
    • Out: Ben Hutton, Rasmus Sandin
  • Goaltending: 
    • Starter: Jack Campbell
    • Back-up: Freddie Andersen/David Rittich

The top-six of this lineup is insane. All six forwards are threats to score. Although they front-load the lineup, they’re still not giving up their depth. For example, every player on the fourth-line is a previous 30-goal scorer in the NHL.

Mikheyev is a good penalty-killer and grinder, but his scoring-touch hasn’t been there this season, despite getting so many chances. In order to maximize their offense and try to get past a hot goalie like Carey Price or Connor Hellebuyck in the first or second round, the team may want to implement this mighty lineup.

11 Forwards/7 Defenseman Line-Up

  • Forwards: 
    • First Line: Zach Hyman-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
    • Second Line: Nick Foligno-John Tavares-William Nylander
    • Third Line: Ilya Mikheyev-Alex Kerfoot-Jason Spezza
    • Fourth Line: Alex Galchenyuk, Wayne Simmonds
    • Out: Joe Thornton, Riley Nash, Pierre Engvall, Nick Robertson
  • Defenseman:
    • First Pairing: Morgan Rielly-T.J. Brodie
    • Second Pairing: Jake Muzzin-Justin Holl
    • Third Pairing: Travis Dermott/Ben Hutton-Zach Bogosian
    • Out: Rasmus Sandin
  • Goaltending: 
    • Starter: Jack Campbell
    • Back-up: Freddie Andersen/David Rittich

During Tampa Bay’s run to the Stanley Cup last season, they used the 11 forwards-7 defenseman lineup pretty often and it worked. However, in order to do this, you need 11 legit NHL forwards that can handle more ice-time.

Thanks to the Foligno trade, the Leafs now have that and can implement a 11F/7D system if they feel like they need to play more defensively and have more balance on the blue-line. It’s possible that Ben Hutton rotates with Travis Dermott for a few games, but Hutton will most likely only draw serious minutes if they use this system.

Also, as of right now, Jack Campbell deserves to be the No. 1 goaltender. Freddie Andersen’s injuries are too big of a concern to put him in right now, but that may change once we understand his situation more. David Rittich will serve as insurance to Campbell and Andersen, but if he has to actually suit up for the Leafs in the playoffs, that won’t be great news.

Next. Leafs Best Move was NOT Acquiring Tayor Hall. dark

Toronto is a much better team now, so expect head coach Sheldon Keefe to get very creative with his lineup and shake things up, as the team gets ready for a long playoff run.

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