The Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Play This Lineup for the Playoffs

Third Line: Alex Kerfoot – David Kampf – Pierre Engvall

This third line focuses on defense, shutting down the top line of the opposition. Each one of these players are on the penalty kill for the team, and their skillset is based on covering the faceoffs in the defensive zone. This line is comprised of penalty kill forwards and would, to me, be the main line Sheldon Keefe uses to lock down Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov. This line most likely won’t throw the body as one of their tendencies, but they would tire out the opposition with their work ethic and smart stick and body placement.

I have said this before, but I saw how David Kampf did with his task of shutting down Connor McDavid in 2020, and he did an amazing job with Ryan Carpenter and Matthew Highmore. Given the fact that he is now playing with two upgrades in Alex Kerfoot and Pierre Engvall, I can only think that he will make up the shutdown line again.

I don’t expect this line to do much on offense, but they have the pieces needed to deliver some depth scoring on the bottom six. With their defensive prowess, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some goals on transition following a takeaway. Alex Kerfoot is more then capable of providing depth scoring, and Engvall’s shot is nothing to scoff at. Unlike the fourth line, they are quite capable of pulling off offensive zone time with cycle play: send it around the zone, finding a shooting or passing lane.

On to line 2.