The Toronto Maple Leafs have an elite top forward line, easily among the best in the NHL. However, how do the other lines excel?
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a fast, skilled team at the core, however they made great strides to add the sandpaper they needed seasons ago to win.
Kyle Dubas has added some size to his lineup, and he also went out and signed David Kampf who played a huge part in shutting down Connor McDavid for the Chicago Blackhawks in the play-in tournament, as a solid third liner.
The main job of the coach is to find the line combinations that help his team win.
Sheldon Keefe has been all systems go on offense, with his system focusing on speed and skill on transition, creating scoring chances from odd-man rushes. Being smart with the puck in every zone is key, and his team has been finding offense no matter where they are on the ice.
However, sometimes the systems don’t work for the bottom six, mainly the fourth line. Here, we will take a look at the optimal lineup options for the Toronto Maple Leafs based on their skillset and tendencies, with what COULD be the best strategy for them to play.
I’ll start from fourth line and end with the top line.