The Toronto Maple Leafs kick-off their preseason this weekend, with a number of players fighting to make the line-up.
If you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, it’s pretty much set. However, a few recent injuries could open the door for a number of players.
Jake Muzzin, Pierre Engvall and Timothy Liljegren are all expected to miss some time, who would all have made the Leafs opening night roster. We don’t know if all three will miss opening night, but if they do, it allows three more players to make the roster that weren’t initially expected to.
Below is what the forwards and defenseman pairings will look like with a few unknown’s:
Forwards:
- Michael Bunting/Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner
- Unknown/John Tavares/William Nylander
- Alex Kerfoot/David Kampf/Calle Jarnkrok
- Unknown/Unknown/Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defenseman:
- Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie
- Mark Giordano – Justin Holl
- Unknown – Unknown
With Muzzin and Liljegren out and then Sandin still not signed, that defensive-core looks pretty terrible, so the team will hope that all three return to the line-up soon.
As for the forward group, you’ll probably expect Nick Robertson to make the roster somewhere, but that’s definitely not for certain.
Regardless, here are four players who could surprisingly be in the line-up for the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night.