Toronto Maple Leafs: Regular Season Defensive Pairing Predictions

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 24: Goaltender Jack Campbell #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs defends his net with the help of his teammates Justin Holl #3 and Rasmus Sandin #38 against Corey Perry #94 and Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 24, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

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TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 04: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

Leafs Powerplay

The Toronto Maple Leafs and their power-play lineup shouldn’t really shock many – even with the new look with Marner manning the middle of the ice.

The first unit will have Rielly (of course) quarterbacking it and on his off side it’s seeming to look like Matthews will take the other back pairing spot. Both provide a threat of a shot from nearly anywhere in the ice, and neither are afraid to carry it down low and create a pretty pass cross-ice.

As far as the second unit goes, from the looks of things, it will be the 21-year-old Rasmus Sandin stepping back into the fold. He can make the smart pass, and as mentioned earlier, he has the strength and power to rip some bombs from the point.

The other backend on that unit can be really any filler from the top 9 lines. From the looks of pre-season, it’ll be Ondrej Kase getting the chance to start the season.

The two finished 1 and 2 for power-play TOI last season with the Leafs; Rielly sitting at an average of 2:55 and Sandin with an average of 1:45 per night. Other viable options in case of injury, or just straight up not working, would be Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie, both of who stepped in when needed last year.

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